Is non-thyroidal illness syndrome a predictor for prolonged weaning in intubated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients?

Introduction: Non-thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) is considered to be associated with adverse outcomes in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. In this study, we evaluated the association between NTIS and prolonged weaning in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients admitted to the ICU.

Materials And Methods: In total, 125 patients with COPD admitted to our ICU who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) were enrolled.

Does CPAP therapy alter urinary albumin level in adult patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome?

Background: Urinary albumin is a marker of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and also it has been viewed as a marker for vascular endothelial dysfunction in both the kidneys and systemic vasculature. Lowering urinary albumin is associated with fewer cardiovascular and renal diseases. We investigated the change in urinary albumin after 1 month of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

Markers of lower respiratory tract infections in emergency departments.

Background: Acute respiratory tract infections are the common causes for admission to emergency department. Appropriate diagnosis and initiating treatment on time are important for reducing morbidity and mortality rate due to lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). The aim of this study is to determine if C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and white blood cells (WBC) count are considerable markers to help rapid diagnosis and prediction of antibiotic need for lower respiratory infections in emergency departments.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria isolated from pulmonary specimens between 2004 and 2009: causative agent or not?

Nontuberculous mycobacteria were identified from 45891 samples of 19553 patients with a prediagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis between November 2004 and January 2009. Among 10041 (21.9%) culture positive samples, 208 (2.

[Identification of atypical mycobacteria isolated from clinical specimens by line probe assay (LIPA)].

The aim of this study was the identification of atypical mycobacteria isolated from various samples of patients prediagnosed as tuberculosis between November 2004 and June 2006 by a commercial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based reverse hybridization kit (INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria v2, Innogenetics NV, Belgium). A total of 21,060 samples obtained from 9660 patients were included to the study. After decontamination and homogenization processes, the samples were cultivated in automated MGIT Bactec 960 system and the diagnosis of atypical mycobacteria was performed in 4532 (21.

Successful treatment of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in an immunocompetent host.

Immunocompromised individuals are susceptible to pulmonary Aspergillus infection, but invasive Aspergillus infection is extremely rare in the presence of normal immunity. A case of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in an immunocompetent 57-year-old female who was successfully treated with liposomal amphotericin-B is reported here.

Multiple pulmonary arterial aneurysms in Behçet's disease: clinical and radiologic remission after cyclophosphamide and corticosteroid therapy.

Behçet's disease (BD) with pulmonary arterial aneurysm is rare and often associated with a poor prognosis. But there is also a chance that the aneurysm may completely resolve with medical therapy. A 39-year-old man presented with fever, malaise, bilateral chest pain, recurrent oral ulcers, and hemoptysis.