Spontaneous pneumomediastinum: experience in 18 patients during the last 12 years.

Objective:: To characterize clinically all of the patients with spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SPM) admitted to an adult pulmonology ward in Lisbon, Portugal.

Methods:: This was a retrospective descriptive study of all adult patients (≥ 18 years of age) diagnosed with SPM between January of 2004 and September of 2015.

Results:: At least one predisposing factor was identified in most (88.

An Unusual Association in an Uncommon Disease: Two Cases of Spontaneous Pneumomediastinum Associated with Pneumorrhachis.

Pneumomediastinum, the presence of free air in the mediastinum, is described as spontaneous pneumomediastinum when there is no apparent cause such as trauma, surgery, interventional procedures, or intrathoracic infections. Pneumorrhachis is a rare clinical condition, consisting of intraspinal air. The main causes are iatrogenic, traumatic, and nontraumatic.

[Pulmonary embolism and difficult-to-treat asthma].

Asthma control is a key point in patient management. GINA's most recent report emphasises the need to investigate uncontrolled asthma, of which non-compliance with treatment, COPD, smoking, chronic sinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease and obesity are the usual causes. The aim of this work is to evaluate the role of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) in cases of difficult- -to-treat asthma.

[Ehlers-Danlos syndrome - a rare cause of spontaneous pneumothorax].

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (cutis hyperelastica), is a group of connective tissue disorders characterized by abnormalities of the skin, ligaments and internal organs. It is a hereditary syndrome, usually with autossomal dominant inheritance; that primarily affects the collagen synthesis. The skin and blood vessels are extremely fragile and elastic.

Lack of detectable allergenicity of transgenic maize and soya samples.

Background: The safety issues regarding foods derived from genetically modified (GM) plants are central to their acceptance into the food supply. The potential allergenicity of proteins newly introduced in GM foods is a major safety concern.

Objective: We sought to monitor, in potentially sensitive human populations, the allergenicity effects of 5 GM materials obtained from sources with no allergenic potential and already under commercialization in the European Union.

[Idiophatic mediastinal fibrosis: a case report].

We herein report a case of a male patient, who presented a mediastinal mass that had a slow growth over the years. After surgery, that made the diagnosis of idiopathic mediastinal fibrosis, the growth stabilized. Four years latter it was observed a substantial increase which lead to the inevitable compression of vital structures which, in turn, led to pulmonary hypertension.