A Performance Comparison of Different YOLOv7 Networks for High-Accuracy Cell Classification in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Utilising the Adam Optimiser and Label Smoothing.

Accurate classification of cells in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid is essential for the assessment of lung disease in pneumology and critical care medicine. However, the effectiveness of BAL fluid analysis is highly dependent on individual expertise. Our research is focused on improving the accuracy and efficiency of BAL cell classification using the "You Only Look Once" (YOLO) algorithm to reduce variability and increase the accuracy of cell detection in BALF analysis.

[Diagnostics of Interstitial Lung Diseases - Practical Instructions with a Focus on Rheumatologic Systemic Diseases].

Interstitial lung diseases (ILD) are etiologically heterogeneous with unknown and known causes like rheumatologic systemic diseases differing in their therapeutic and prognostic consequences. In consensus between pulmonologists, rheumatologists, radiologists, and pathologists, we developed practical instructions for ILD diagnosis in rheumatologic systemic diseases, in particular because ILD can present in early stages of rheumatic systemic diseases. ILD diagnosis is based on clinical assessment results including a detailed medical history, physical examination, focused laboratory tests, radiology with a high-resolution computed tomography, lung function, and histopathology also to differentiate it from cardiac and infection associated lung diseases.

Pneumothorax with Bullous Lesions as a Late Complication of Covid-19 Pneumonia: A Report on Two Clinical Cases.

Background: Coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) primarily affects the respiratory tract, causing viral pneumonia with fever, hypoxemia, and cough. Commonly observed complications include acute respiratory failure, liver or kidney injury, and cardiovascular or neurologic symptoms. In some patients, inflammatory damage results in long-term complications, such as pulmonary fibrosis, chronic pulmonary thrombotic microangiopathy, or neurologic symptoms.

Bronchoscopic performance of bronchoalveolar lavage in germany - a call for standardization.

Background: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a widely used clinical tool in diagnosing interstitial lung diseases. Although there are recommendations and guidelines, the procedure is not completely standardized. Varying approaches likely influence the conclusiveness of BAL data and may be one reason for the divergent judgement of their value between different centers.

Common variation in PHACTR1 is associated with susceptibility to cervical artery dissection.

Cervical artery dissection (CeAD), a mural hematoma in a carotid or vertebral artery, is a major cause of ischemic stroke in young adults although relatively uncommon in the general population (incidence of 2.6/100,000 per year). Minor cervical traumas, infection, migraine and hypertension are putative risk factors, and inverse associations with obesity and hypercholesterolemia are described.

A gene therapy induced emphysema model and the protective role of stem cells.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease presents with two different phenotypes: chronic bronchitis and emphysema with parenchymal destruction. Decreased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and increased endothelial cell apoptosis are considered major factors for emphysema. Stem cells have the ability of vascular regeneration and function as a repair mechanism for the damaged endothelial cells.

Extrapelvic endometriosis: a rare entity or an under diagnosed condition?

Endometriosis is a clinical entity characterized by the presence of normal endometrial mucosa abnormally implanted in locations other than the uterine cavity. Endometriosis can be either endopelvic or extrapelvic depending on the location of endometrial tissue implantation. Despite the rarity of extrapelvic endometriosis, several cases of endometriosis of the gastrointestinal tract, the urinary tract, the upper and lower respiratory system, the diaphragm, the pleura and the pericardium, as well as abdominal scars loci have been reported in the literature.

Application of flexible bronchoscopy in inhalation lung injury.

Background: As acute inhalational injury is an uncommon presentation to most institutions, a standard approach to its assessment and management, especially using flexible bronchoscopy, has not received significant attention.

Methods: The objective of this study is to evaluate the value of using flexible bronchoscopy as part of the evaluation and management of patients with inhalational lung injury. Twenty-three cases of inhalational lung injury were treated in our three hospitals after a fire in a residential building.

Defense mechanisms of the respiratory system and aerosol production systems.

Aerosolized therapies have been used in everyday clinical practice for decades. Experimentation with different delivery systems have led to the creation of aerosolized insulin, antibiotics, gene therapy and chemotherapy. Several of these therapies are already clinically available while others are being investigated in active clinical trials.

The Determinants of Dementia After Stroke (DEDEMAS) Study: protocol and pilot data.

Rationale: About 20% of stroke patients develop dementia within a few months after their event, but the determinants and mechanisms of poststroke dementia are insufficiently understood.

Aims: To identify and characterize the determinants of cognitive impairment poststroke.

Design: Observational prospective study in patients with acute stroke and no prior dementia.

17q25 Locus is associated with white matter hyperintensity volume in ischemic stroke, but not with lacunar stroke status.

Background And Purpose: Recently, a novel locus at 17q25 was associated with white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on MRI in stroke-free individuals. We aimed to replicate the association with WMH volume (WMHV) in patients with ischemic stroke. If the association acts by promoting a small vessel arteriopathy, it might be expected to also associate with lacunar stroke.

Necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosis with hemoptysis: a case report and literature review.

Unlabelled: We present a case of 39-year-old male with the symptoms of fever, cough, chest pain and bloody phlegm, whose chest CT showed multiple subpleural nodules and inflammatory infiltration. Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery ( VATS ) for right subplural nodule was performed and confirmed the diagnosis of necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosis. Prednisolone was administered and the symptoms were under control untill the occurrence of intermittent hemoptysis after 10 months.

Subclinical hyperthyroidism is a risk factor for poor functional outcome after ischemic stroke.

Background And Purpose: Subclinical hyperthyroidism is associated with adverse cardiovascular events, including stroke and atrial fibrillation. However, its impact on functional outcome after stroke remains unexplored.

Methods: A total of 165 consecutively recruited patients admitted for ischemic stroke were included in this observational prospective study.

Ischemic stroke is associated with the ABO locus: the EuroCLOT study.

Objective: End-stage coagulation and the structure/function of fibrin are implicated in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke. We explored whether genetic variants associated with end-stage coagulation in healthy volunteers account for the genetic predisposition to ischemic stroke and examined their influence on stroke subtype.

Methods: Common genetic variants identified through genome-wide association studies of coagulation factors and fibrin structure/function in healthy twins (n = 2,100, Stage 1) were examined in ischemic stroke (n = 4,200 cases) using 2 independent samples of European ancestry (Stage 2).

Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia due to radiographic contrast administration: an orphan disease?

Pulmonary eosinophilia comprises a heterogeneous group of diseases that are defined by eosinophilia in pulmonary infiltrates or in tissue. Drugs can cause almost all histopathologic patterns of interstitial pneumonias, such as cellular and fibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia, pulmonary infiltrates and eosinophilia, organizing pneumonia, lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia, desquamative interstitial pneumonia, a pulmonary granulomatosis-like reaction, and a usual interstitial pneumonia-like pattern. We present a very rare case of chronic eosinophilic pneumonia due to radiographic contrast infusion diagnosed with video-assisted thoracoscopy.

Glomus tumor in the lung parenchyma.

Glomus tumors are uncommon lesions of glomus cell origin with ultrastructural and immunohistochemical features of smooth muscle. In the majority of the cases reported in the literature glomus tumors are benign, but there are some rare cases in which they demonstrate aggressive and malignant clinical and histological features. Glomangiosarcomas of the lung are extremely rare malignant tumors, because of the fact that glomus bodies are rare or absent.

Extensive white matter hyperintensities may increase brain volume in cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy.

Background And Purpose: The extent of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) is associated with cerebral atrophy in elderly people. WMH is a radiological hallmark of cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), but their relationship with brain volume remains poorly understood. The association between WMH and brain volume was analyzed in a large population of patients with CADASIL.

Identification of a strategic brain network underlying processing speed deficits in vascular cognitive impairment.

Patients with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) commonly exhibit deficits in processing speed. This has been attributed to a disruption of frontal-subcortical neuronal circuits by ischemic lesions, but the exact mechanisms and underlying anatomical structures are poorly understood. We set out to identify a strategic brain network for processing speed by applying graph-based data-mining techniques to MRI lesion maps from patients with small vessel disease.

Genetic risk factors for ischaemic stroke and its subtypes (the METASTROKE collaboration): a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies.

Background: Various genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been done in ischaemic stroke, identifying a few loci associated with the disease, but sample sizes have been 3500 cases or less. We established the METASTROKE collaboration with the aim of validating associations from previous GWAS and identifying novel genetic associations through meta-analysis of GWAS datasets for ischaemic stroke and its subtypes.

Methods: We meta-analysed data from 15 ischaemic stroke cohorts with a total of 12 389 individuals with ischaemic stroke and 62 004 controls, all of European ancestry.

Common variants at 6p21.1 are associated with large artery atherosclerotic stroke.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have not consistently detected replicable genetic risk factors for ischemic stroke, potentially due to etiological heterogeneity of this trait. We performed GWAS of ischemic stroke and a major ischemic stroke subtype (large artery atherosclerosis, LAA) using 1,162 ischemic stroke cases (including 421 LAA cases) and 1,244 population controls from Australia. Evidence for a genetic influence on ischemic stroke risk was detected, but this influence was higher and more significant for the LAA subtype.

Superficial siderosis is a warning sign for future intracranial hemorrhage.

Supratentorial superficial siderosis (SS) is a frequent imaging marker of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). It is most probably caused by focal subarachnoid hemorrhages (fSAHs). Based on single-case observations, it has been proposed that such fSAHs might be a predisposing factor for future intracranial hemorrhage.