[General practitioner and respiratory medicine specialist. A survey on the management of the asthmatic patient].

The relationship between the general practitioner (GP) and the respiratory medicine physician specialist in the management of the asthmatic patients was examined. Two-hundred sixty -two GPs from Brescia and province were enrolled into the study and underwent an appropriate questionnaire, focusing the survey on three aspects: the relationship among GP-respiratory medicine physician specialist and asthma patients, the training of GP, the appraisal of the socio-economic aspects of the management of bronchial asthma. The results have shown the requirement of a GP-respiratory medicine physician specialist relationship founded on the exchange of information and experiences, rather then of synthetic diagnoses and therapeutic directions, and the opportunity to establish outpatients' departments dedicated to the management of the asthmatic patients.

Castleman's disease presenting as an asymptomatic solitary pulmonary nodule.

We report the case of a 51 year old white woman with an asymptomatic solitary pulmonary nodule, fortuitously discovered on chest radiography. Her physical examination and biochemical tests were unremarkable for pathological findings. Thoracic computed tomography (CT) scan and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy confirmed the presence of a dishomogeneous thick lesion of lobular shape, localized between the middle and lower lobe of the right lung.

[Fiber bronchoscopy in old age. Its diagnostic importance, tolerability and safety].

Fibreoptic bronchoscopic procedure has arisen as fundamental investigation in pneumology. This is of documented value regarding young subjects, however the utility of bronchoscopy in the elderly has not yet been fully evaluated. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of fibreoptic bronchoscopy in the elderly.