Delay of airway epithelial wound repair in COPD is associated with airflow obstruction severity.

Background: Airway epithelium integrity is essential to maintain its role of mechanical and functional barrier. Recurrent epithelial injuries require a complex mechanism of repair to restore its integrity. In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an abnormal airway epithelial repair may participate in airway remodeling.

Endobronchial brachytherapy in combination with external beam irradiation in obstructing malignant bronchial tumors.

Endobronchial brachytherapy is commonly used in the palliative management of malignant airway obstructions. In the present study, we describe the results of brachytherapy (mean dose of 18 Gy), used in combination with external beam irradiation (mean dose of 50 Gy) in 30 patients who had primary bronchogenic carcinoma of the lung. The extent of airway obstruction was determined according to symptoms and by bronchoscopy.

[Non-metastatic advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma: systemic high-dose brachytherapy following curative external radiotherapy].

Purpose: To analyse retrospectively the local control, overall survival and immediate and long-term tolerance after a radiotherapy delivered with a curative intent systematically including a high-dose rate brachytherapy.

Patients And Methods: From January 1993 to January 1995, 50 patients (45 males-five females, median age: 61) with non-small cell lung cancers, inoperable for tumour reasons, non-metastatic, were included in the protocol. Following external radiotherapy (55-65 Gy conventional fractionation), all the patients received high-dose rate brachytherapy delivering 14 to 24 Gy using fractions of 7 Gy.

Puzzles in the clinical pharmacokinetics of fluorouracil.

The pharmacokinetics of fluorouracil (5FU) were studied in two groups of patients, the administration of 105 i.v. as daily bolus (x5) or 5-day continuous infusions.

[Pneumoconiosis and exposure to wood].

The authors report a case of an employee in the wood processing industry. The clinical presentation was respiratory with dyspnoea on effort. The chest x-ray showed bilateral interstitial changes.