Aspiration of solid food particles into lungs of patients with gastroesophageal reflux and chronic bronchial disease.

The existence of a relationship between upper digestive tract impairment and respiratory disturbance is generally accepted. The aim of this study was to determine whether pulmonary aspiration, documented by labeled meal and lung scans, could be a contributory factor. Thirty-two patients with chronic respiratory complaints (19 men, 13 women, mean age: 57.

[Impact of atmospheric pollution on the lung].

Longitudinal studies on the effects of atmospheric pollutants on the respiratory system have yielded conflicting conclusions. Socio-economic situation, cigarette smoking and chronic diseases must be taken in account in this multifactorial problem. Nevertheless, evidence has been accumulating that exposure brings a consistent rise in the frequency of chest conditions.

[Gastroesophageal reflux and nocturnal broncho-aspiration in chronic bronchopathies].

Although the relationship between chronic bronchopathies and gastro-esophageal reflux is known, the existence and role of nocturnal broncho-aspiration is controversial. 32 patients with chronic bronchopathy and 13 controls without digestive or respiratory symptoms were studied. Nocturnal broncho-aspiration was diagnosed by the demonstration of vegetable fibers in the morning expectorate and by the presence of radioactive pulmonary foci 15 hours following an isotopic meal.

[Catamnestic study of 20 cases of cryptogenic hemoptysis. Average of 5 1/2-year follow-ups].

A report is presented on 20 patients with cryptogenetic hemoptysis. The following investigations are necessary and sufficient for diagnosis: history, physical examination, chest roentgenogram in posteroanterior and lateral projection, fiberoptic bronchoscopy with bacterial and cytologic analysis of bronchial brushing material, and determination of coagulation factors. Further explorations can be regarded as unnecessary since the above program discloses the cause of hemoptysis in more than 90% of cases.

[Priorities among antitubercular measures: epidemiologic arguments].

A patient with positive smear tuberculosis infects approximately 50% of his domestic contacts; post-primary morbidity may reach 10% of the cases infected under the age of 24 years. Infection rate among professional and social contacts is low and the morbidity much lower. Smear-positive tuberculous patients develop the disease in a few months, therefore indiscriminate case finding is not effective in disclosing patients before they are infectious.

Significance of circulating antibodies directed against the Kveim suspension demonstrated in patients with sarcoidosis.

A hemagglutination test using coated sheep erythrocytes was devised for quantifying circulating antibodies directed against an extract of sarcoid spleen (K veim suspension). Out of 361 patients with respiratory sarcoidosis, the titres for 336 were less than 1:1,280. In 335 patients with various disorders the titres were less than 1:1,280 in 29.

A controlled trial of individually-adapted short-course chemotherapy versus two-year scheme in original treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. Report after a five-year follow-up.

Patients with culture-positive pulmonary tuberculosis were allocated at random into two groups for a three-phase regimen in original course chemotherapy. The first group was given rifampicin (RMP) plus isoniazid (INH) plus ethambutol until sensitivity tests were completed, then RMP plus INH until culture conversion, thereafter INH alone for four months. The second group received the same drugs until obtaining culture conversion, thereafter IHN alone for a period lasting two years after onset of chemotherapy.

[Invasive isolated pulmonary cryptococcosis. Case report].

Case report on a 57-year-old man who died in progressive respiratory distress with bilateral infiltrates. Sarcoidosis was suspected because of the presence of non-caseating epitheloid granulomas in transbronchial lung biopsies and the elevation of circulating antibodies directed against Kveim antigen. Temperature rose progressively one month after starting steroid treatment.

[Immunology of sarcoidosis].

The sarcoid granulomas and the preceding mononuclear infiltration are composed of immunologically activated cells. Hyperactivity of circulating B cells and the frequent impairment of cell-mediated hypersensitivity could be due to an imbalance between T cell sub-populations. Kveim-Siltzbach test positivity and demonstration of circulating antibodies specifically directed against a sarcoid spleen extract suggest that this extract could have antigenic properties.

[Histologic and cytologic examination of bronchus and transbronchial lung biopsies at different stages of intrathoracic sarcoidosis].

The frequency of bronchial and parenchymal involvement was studied in 44 patients with intrathoracic sarcoidosis by means of histologic and cytologic analysis of bronchial and pulmonary biopsies taken through bronchofiberscope. Endoscopy showed mucosal hyperemia with or without superficial granules in 59% of cases. Bronchial granulomatosis was found in 50% of cases at stages 0 and I, in 38% at stage II and in 42% at stage III.

[Changes in the hemodynamics of the lung and the right ventricle during rest and exertion in 2 groups of patients with chronic broncho-obstructive syndrome of different severity].

Forty patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) underwent right heart and central catheterization at rest and during exercise when not in a state of acute exacerbation. They were divided into 2 groups of different functional gravity: group I: FEV1 less than or equal to 1250 ml, RV/TLC greater than or equal to 55% (24 patients); group II: FEV1 > 1250 ml, RV/TLC < 55% (16 patients). At rest, group I had mean pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary arteriolar resistance, and arterial PCO2 significantly higher, and arterial PO2 significantly lower, than group II.

[Persistence of hypoxemia after complete reexpansion of the lung in patients with idiopathic spontaneous pneumothorax].

Oxygen arterial partial pressure (PaO2) has been measured in 38 patients with idiopathic spontaneous pneumothorax (ISP) and in 20 of them 8-9 days after full expansion of the lung within 1-3 days by aspiration through chest tube drain. The PaO2 was initially 69.0 +/- 9.

[Retrospective study of 50 cases of idiopathic fibrosing alveolitis with catamnesis].

44 out of 50 patients with idiopathic fibrosing alveolitis were followed up from 1 month to 11 years (mean 2 years 9 months). One patient out of 13 (8%) with 4 symptoms or fewer (mean follow-up 55 months) died. 23 out of 31 (74%) with 5 symptoms or more (mean follow-up 24.