A 40-year-old woman with no major medical illness except for morbid obesity (BMI 40.7) was admitted to our hospital because of bilateral pneumonia due to a novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV). Non-invasive ventilation was introduced because of the hypoxemia. The description of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid findings showed an alveolar hemorrhage and neutrophilic inflammation. No evidence of bacterial infection was found. She was treated with oseltamivir and sivelestat sodium, neutrophil elastase inhibitor and thereafter was successfully discharged from the hospital. This case is the first report of a patient with acute lung injury with an alveolar hemorrhage caused by the S-OIV.
A 53-year-old woman diagnosed with small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) was referred to our hospital because of general malaise and inappetence. Serum amylase levels were drastically elevated at 13,920 IU/l, with the salivary type dominating. She suffered multiple liver metastases and presented with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). She succumbed to progressive malaise one month after admission. The amylase level was increased to 18,630 IU/l just before her death. Necropsy of the right supraclavicular lymph node confirmed SCLC with partial necrosis. Immunohistological analysis revealed that the SCLC produced salivary-type amylase. A rare case of salivary-type amylase-producing SCLC with a futile outcome was reported with review of the previous literature.
Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is related to narrowing upper airway. The forced oscillation technique (FOT) is a noninvasive method to evaluate resistance and reactance in airway system. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the relation between the airway resistance during awakening by FOT and the severity of OSA. Methods: We examined the respiratory impedance of 35 patients with OSA during awakening in the sitting, supine, and left lateral recumbent positions using the MostGraph-01® (CHEST M.I., Tokyo, Japan) FOT instrument. Results: Significant correlations between the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and respiratory resistance at 5 Hz (R5), as well as respiratory resistance at 20 Hz (R20), were observed in the supine position. In addition, AHI in the supine position were significantly correlated with R5 and R20 in each the sitting, supine, and left lateral recumbent positions. Conclusions: FOT might be a useful technique to estimate the pathophysiology and severity of OSA.
A 72-year-old woman developed cardiac tamponade due to direct invasion of thymic cancer. Carboplatin was administered into the pericardial cavity two times with a total dose of 600 mg. Pericardial effusion disappeared without any toxicities. Following four cycles of systemic chemotherapy by carboplatin, doxorubicin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide (ADOC), partial response was obtained. She is alive 10 month after being given a diagnosis of cardiac tamponade. Intrapericardial administration of carboplatin is a useful therapy for control of pericardial effusion and chemosensitive cases should de identified among patients with thymic cancer.
Abstract Background: Previous analyses of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) cohorts have provided conflicting data on the survival of patients with CPFE. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the clinical prognosis of acute exacerbations (AE) of CPFE. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who had been treated at the Shinshu University Hospital (Matsumoto, Japan) between 2003 and 2017. We identified 21 patients with AE of CPFE and 41 patients with AE of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and estimated their prognoses using the Kaplan–Meier method. Results : Treatment content and respiratory management were not significantly different between the two groups before and after exacerbation. At the time of AE, the median serum Krebs von den Lungen-6 level was significantly lower in the CPFE group (Krebs von den Lungen-6: 966 U/µL; white blood cell count: 8810 /µL) than that in the IPF group (Krebs von den Lungen-6: 2130 U/µL, p < 0.001; white blood cells: 10809/µL, p = 0.0096). The baseline Gender-Age-Physiology scores were not significantly different between the two groups (CPFE, 4.5 points; IPF, 4.7 points; p = 0.58). Kaplan–Meier curves revealed that the survival time after AE for patients with CPFE was longer than that for patients with IPF ( p < 0.001, log-rank test). Conclusions : Survival prognoses after AE were significantly better for patients with CPFE than that for those with IPF. Our findings may improve the medical treatment and respiratory management of patients with AE-CPFE.
A case of bronchial pleomorphic adenoma is herein presented. The patient came to the hospital for a detailed examination of a bronchial polyp that was detected by computed tomography. Chest computed tomography revealed a bronchial tumor which was located at the distal end of the left main bronchus. The patient refused surgical resection. An electrosurgical snare was performed two times and the patient received several rounds of argon plasma coagulation with a flexible bronchoscope. The diagnosis of a pleomorphic adenoma was made following examination of the resected specimens. No recurrence has been observed by biopsy at the resected site.
The optimal chemotherapeutic regimen for cancer of unknown primary (CUP) remains uncertain. We encountered 3 cases with CUP who presented with thoracic lymph node metastasis. Detailed physical examination and diagnostic tests, including laboratory investigations, bronchoscopy, upper and lower gastrointestinal studies, computed tomography of the head, neck, abdomen and pelvis and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, failed to identify the primary site in these cases. The patients were treated with the cisplatin plus docetaxel chemotherapy regimen. Concomitant thoracic radiotherapy was conducted in one patient and surgical resection in another. All patients showed good response to the chemotherapy and achieved long-term disease-free survival.