Airway obstruction in congenital central hypoventilation syndrome.

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) is the failure of the autonomic system to control adequate ventilation while asleep with preserved ventilatory response while awake. We report a case of a patient with CCHS who presented with intrathoracic and extrathoracic airway obstruction after tracheostomy tube decannulation and phrenic nerve pacer placement. Nocturnal polysomnography (NPSG) revealed hypoxia, hypercapnia and obstructive sleep apnoea, which required bilevel positive airway pressure titration.

Dysanaptic growth of lung and airway in children with post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans.

Rationale: Post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans (PBO) is a rare form of chronic obstructive lung disease associated with small airway fibrosis following a severe insult to the lower respiratory tract. It has been suggested that PBO is a non-progressive disease. However, evidence supporting this statement is limited.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the lung: a rare cause of atelectasis in children.

Although rare, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor is the most common primary lung mass in children. We report the case of an 11-year-old boy investigated for persistent cough and dyspnea with complete left lung atelectasis mimicking pneumonia. CT and MRI showed an endobronchial mass of the left main bronchus.

Radioresistance-related proteins in rectal cancer.

Radiation therapy (RT), combined with chemotherapy, is currently the standard adjuvant approach for UICC-stage II and III rectal cancer patients. Individual rectal tumors display wide ranges of radiosensitivity (RS). The aim of the present study was to identify proteins associated with radioresistance (RR), with the final aim of predicting tumor response.