Does airway colonization cause systemic inflammation in bronchiectasis?

Recent evidence suggests the presence of accompanying systemic inflammation in chronic inflammatory airway diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma; however little is known regarding the presence of systemic inflammation in bronchiectasis. Although bronchiectasis was initially considered a stationary process, chronic bacterial colonization causes airway inflammation and progressive airway damage. The aim of this study was to determine the level of systemic inflammation in bronchiectasis patients and identify its relationship with colonization.

Splenic artery embolization: An alternative approach in a critically ill patient with autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

Assessment of general health status and hematological parameters usually precedes the use of invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in critically ill patients. Angiography can be effective and safe as a substitute for major surgical procedures, or as a bridging therapy in such cases. We present a critically ill patient with hemolytic anemia that underwent splenic artery embolization as a bridging therapy.

Hyponatremic encephalopathy after excessive water ingestion prior to pelvic ultrasound: neuroimaging findings.

We report two patients with acute hyponatremic encephalopathy which developed after massive water ingestion for pelvic ultrasound and emphasize the findings of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Both subjects had completely recovered within 24 hours following fluid restriction and salt replacement. MR imaging revealed cortical sulcal narrowing, restricted diffusion and sulcal T2 hyperintensity along with diffuse pial enhancement suggesting diffuse cerebral cortical cytotoxic edema and blood-brain barrier breakdown.

Smooth muscle hyperplasia in an asthmatic patient: do we know it all?

Bronchial smooth muscle hyperplasia is a well-known structural change in asthma. The degree of hyperplasia is related to asthma severity. We report a case of extreme smooth muscle hyperplasia in an asthmatic patient.

Childhood onset analgesic intolerance: a marker for bronchial asthma in adulthood?

Analgesic intolerance (AI) which is classically known as a disease of the middle-aged adults, not uncommonly starts in childhood. In this study we sought to identify the characteristics of childhood onset AI and evaluated its association with the development of asthma. Among 729 analgesic intolerant patients followed in our institution between January 1991 and July 2004, 50 (16 male, 34 female, 6.

[Respiratory symptoms and functions in tea workers].

Respiratory symptoms and function tests were studied in tea workers and in a control group. The prevalance of acute and chronic respiratory symptoms were not different in two groups except for an acute burning sensation of eye-nose-throat and a chronic cough. Also the comparison of the respiratory function tests between tea workers (both smokers and nonsmokers) and the controls were not different at preshift and postshift 30th minute and 8th hour.