Pneumonias - a dynamic relationship between the human organism and the etiologic agent.

Pneumonias are usually acute infectious processes of the pulmonary parenchyma, being the result of the overcome of the natural defence mechanisms of the human organism, which lead to the penetration, persistence and multiplication of a biologic agent (which has become a pathogen agent) within the lungs. This is a phenomena which generates local manifestations (inflammation) and systemic manifestations, their variable dimension (which is conditioned by the state of the host and/or the virulence of the pathogen agent) explaining the clinical, paraclinical and biological dimensions of the phenomena. The current material deals on one hand with the phenomena which takes part in the formation of the heterogeneous spectrum of the pneumonias and, on the other hand, we will demonstrate the manner in which the expansion and the severity of the infectious phenomena depend on the virulence of the etiologic agent, on the manner in which the defence mechanisms have been overcome, and also on the biological state of the invaded organism.

[The therapeutic considerations in the "overlap syndrome"].

The authors describe two cases of "overlap syndrome", emphasizing the difficulties of detecting, diagnosing and treating these cases. This paper allows us to review the medical works, trying to find out some answers to the therapeutical problems faced in these two cases.

[Initial experiments with controlled assisted ventilation by nasal mask in exacerbated chronic respiratory failure in chronic obstructive bronchopneumopathies].

The authors are presenting the first cases in Romania in which volumetric ventilators Monnal D type were used for external ventilatory assistance on nasal mask of the chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases in exacerbation. The paper reviews the problems issued during the use of ventilators in 5 chronic patients, with numerous previous admittances in our clinic, as well as the latest news in the field of modern therapy of COPD.