Immediate complications and flow volume changes during treatment phases of bronchial thermoplasty: a single-center descriptive study.

Introduction: Bronchial thermoplasty (B.T.) is a therapeutic bronchoscopic procedure in which controlled thermal energy is applied to the airway wall to decrease smooth muscle mass.

The Association of Unreported Sleep Disturbances and Systemic Inflammation: Findings from the 2005-2008 NHANES.

Background/objective: Sleep apnea is associated with elevated inflammatory markers. A subgroup of patients never report sleep disturbances to their physician. The inflammatory status of this subgroup is not known.

Fibrosing Mediastinitis: Uncommon Life-threatening Complication of Histoplasmosis.

Histoplasmosis involving mediastinum is very rare which can present as a mediastinal mass or fibrosing mediastinitis. Fibrosing mediastinitis can be life-threatening if left untreated due to the involvement of the surrounding visceral and vascular structures. We present an interesting case of fibrosing mediastinitis due to histoplasmosis presented with palpitations, chest pain and dyspnea.

Focal neurological presentation in Hashimoto's encephalopathy mimicking a vascular occlusion of the middle cerebral artery.

Hashimoto's encephalopathy is a rare form of autoimmune encephalopathy. It is likely an underdiagnosed entity especially in the setting of focal neurological defects. We report a case of a 49-year-old man who presented with "strange behavior"of a day's duration.

Vitamin D status and monitoring in female veterans.

An increasing number of women are serving in the military. We initiated a retrospective study to evaluate vitamin D status and monitoring in female veterans, and to examine the potential link between vitamin D status, age, race, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), health care costs, and utilization. Approximately 44 percent of the 3,608 female veterans evaluated between 2001 and 2010 were vitamin D deficient (25(OH)D < 20 ng/ml), a rate substantially higher than that of the general population.