Effects of Active Chronic Cigarette-Smoke Exposure on Circulating Fibrocytes.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the hypothesis that active smoking impacts upon mediators and abundance of circulating fibrocyte cells in smoking-related disease characterised by fibrosis.

Methods: Flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to investigate blood from five patient groups: healthy never-smokers, healthy current smokers, stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) active smokers, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) never-smokers, and IPF active smokers.

Results: A significant inverse dose-response relationship was observed in healthy smokers among cumulative smoking burden (pack-years) and fibrocyte abundance (p = 0.

A Retrospective Analysis of 2-Year Follow-Up of Patients with Incidental Findings of Sarcoidosis.

Introduction: Sarcoidosis is a multi-system granulomatous disease most commonly involving the lungs. It may be incidentally diagnosed during imaging studies for other conditions or non-specific symptoms. The appropriate follow-up of incidentally diagnosed asymptomatic stage 1 disease has not been well defined.

Hospital Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19 Pneumonia: The Effect of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination and Vitamin D Status.

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination promises to improve outcomes for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (most notably those with advanced age and at high risk for severe disease). Here, we examine serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status and outcomes in both old (>70 years) and young vaccinated ( = 80) and unvaccinated ( = 91) subjects, who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 pneumonia in a single center (Connolly Hospital Dublin). Outcomes included ICU admission and mortality.

Common variable immunodeficiency with granulomatous-lymphocytic interstitial lung disease and preceding neurological involvement: a case-report.

Background: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a group of heterogeneous primary immunodeficiencies characterised by a dysregulated and impaired immune response. In addition to an increased susceptibility to infection, it is also associated with noninfectious autoimmune and lymphoproliferative complications. CVID is rarely associated with neurological complications.

Mixed Ventilatory Defects in Pulmonary Sarcoidosis: Prevalence and Clinical Features.

Background: In cohort studies of pulmonary sarcoidosis, abnormal ventilatory patterns have generally been subdivided into restrictive and obstructive defects. Mixed ventilatory defects have largely been overlooked in pulmonary sarcoidosis, as total lung capacity has seldom been taken into account in historical series.

Research Question: This study evaluated the prevalence of mixed disease in pulmonary sarcoidosis and its clinical associations.

Longitudinal prediction of outcome in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis using automated CT analysis.

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Predicting Outcomes in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Using Automated Computed Tomographic Analysis.

Rationale: Quantitative computed tomographic (CT) measures of baseline disease severity might identify patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) with an increased mortality risk. We evaluated whether quantitative CT variables could act as a cohort enrichment tool in future IPF drug trials.

Objectives: To determine whether computer-derived CT measures, specifically measures of pulmonary vessel-related structures (VRSs), can better predict functional decline and survival in IPF and reduce requisite sample sizes in drug trial populations.

Likelihood of pulmonary hypertension in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema.

Background And Objective: This study evaluated whether patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) have an increased likelihood of pulmonary hypertension (PHT) when compared with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients without emphysema.

Methods: Two consecutive IPF populations having undergone transthoracic echocardiography were examined (n = 223 and n = 162). Emphysema and interstitial lung disease (ILD) extent were quantified visually; ILD extent was also quantified by a software tool, CALIPER.

An unusual case of orthopnea.

Bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis is a known cause of respiratory failure. Diagnosis can be difficult, particularly in the acute setting. We present the case of a gentleman diagnosed with bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis secondary to phrenic neuropathy in the setting of cervical spondylosis.

Pulmonary Nodular Lymphoid Hyperplasia presenting cavitating pulmonary nodules.

Pulmonary Nodular Lymphoid Hyperplasia (PNLH) is a rare benign pulmonary disorder characterized by a localized, reactive polyclonal lymphoproliferation. Although the radiological features of this disease have not been clearly defined, they usually consist of a solitary non-cavitatory pulmonary nodule. In this report, we describe two cases of histologically confirmed PNLH presenting as multiple bilateral cavitatory lesions on CT Thorax.

Anatomy and bronchoscopy of the porcine lung. A model for translational respiratory medicine.

The porcine model has contributed significantly to biomedical research over many decades. The similar size and anatomy of pig and human organs make this model particularly beneficial for translational research in areas such as medical device development, therapeutics and xenotransplantation. In recent years, a major limitation with the porcine model was overcome with the successful generation of gene-targeted pigs and the publication of the pig genome.

Nocardia kroppenstedtii sp. nov., an actinomycete isolated from a lung transplant patient with a pulmonary infection.

A novel actinomycete, strain N1286(T), isolated from a lung transplant patient with a pulmonary infection, was provisionally assigned to the genus Nocardia. The strain had chemotaxonomic and morphological properties typical of members of the genus Nocardia and formed a distinct phyletic line in the Nocardia 16S rRNA gene tree. Isolate N1286(T) was most closely related to Nocardia farcinica DSM 43665(T) (99.

Management of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Purpose Of Review: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a complex disease with a high mortality. Management of this disease is underpinned by supportive and general therapies delivered by multidisciplinary teams in specialist centres. In recent years, a number of PAH-specific therapies have improved patient outcomes.

International collaboration: a retrospective study examining the survival of Irish citizens following lung transplantation in both the UK and Ireland.

Objective: Prior to 2005, Irish citizens had exclusively availed of lung transplantation services in the UK. Since 2005, lung transplantation has been available to these patients in both the UK and Ireland. We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of Irish patients undergoing lung transplantation in both the UK and Ireland.

Acute exacerbations and pulmonary hypertension in advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for and outcomes of acute exacerbations in patients with advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and to examine the relationship between disease severity and neovascularisation in explanted IPF lung tissue. 55 IPF patients assessed for lung transplantation were divided into acute (n=27) and non-acute exacerbation (n=28) groups. Haemodynamic data was collected at baseline, at the time of acute exacerbation and at lung transplantation.

Beyond statin therapy: a review of the management of residual risk in diabetes mellitus.

Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol exhibit an independent, strong, continuous correlation with cardiovascular events. The effectiveness of hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) in the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis is well-established. However, despite the lowering of LDL targets and the increased use of statins, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) continue to experience a higher proportion of adverse coronary artery disease events.

Tracheomalacia in adults with cystic fibrosis: determination of prevalence and severity with dynamic cine CT.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and severity of tracheomalacia in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) by using dynamic cine multidetector computed tomography (CT) and to correlate these findings with pulmonary function test (PFT) results and the severity of parenchymal lung disease.

Materials And Methods: In this institutional review board-approved HIPAA-compliant study, 40 patients with CF (22 men, 18 women; mean age, 28 years +/- 8 [standard deviation]; age range, 18-54 years) prospectively underwent PFTs, standard thin-section CT, and two dynamic cine multidetector CT acquisitions. Ten control subjects underwent dynamic cine multidetector CT.

Pulmonary abnormalities on high-resolution CT demonstrate more rapid decline than FEV1 in adults with cystic fibrosis.

Background: FEV1 may remain stable while high-resolution CT (HRCT) appearances deteriorate in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). However, spirometry results commonly decline in older age groups.

Objectives: To compare the rate of decline in HRCT abnormalities and spirometry results over time in an adult cohort with CF.