Misdiagnosis asthma in adult, three rare causes.

Introduction: All that wheezes is not asthma. Although, asthma is the most common cause of wheeze and cough in children and adults, it is often attributed inappropriately to these symptoms from other causes.

Aim: We illustrate through this manuscript three rare causes of wheeze in adults, misdiagnosis as asthma.

Assessment of therapeutic compliance and its associated factors in tunisian adult asthmatic patients.

Introduction: Despite therapeutic advances, morbidity attributed to asthma continues to increase. This seems partly to be due to poor adherence.

Aim: To assess therapeutic adherence and the association between poor compliance and asthma control.

Structured observation summaries : educational interest in the teaching of pulmonology.

Background: The structured observation summary (SOS) is a method of active case-based learning, whose diagnosis is known to learners.

Aim: To assess the value of SOS in the learning of clinical reasoning in pulmonology among first year students of the second cycle of medical studies.

Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Asthma in Menopausal Women: Clinical and Functional Particularities.

Background: Hormonal changes in women, especially at menopausal transition, may have significant consequences on respiratory function. This issue in asthmatic patients is more frequent, more severe, and less controlled after menopause. Tunisian data regarding this issue are limited; therefore, we assessed the clinical and functional particularities of asthma at menopausal transition.

Tracheobronchopathia Osteochondroplastica: End Stage of Tracheo-Bronchial Amyloidosis?

Tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica is a rare idiopathic disease of the trachea and the main bronchi, characterized by multiple submucosal osteocartilaginous nodules. Although the etiology of tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica remains unknown, several theories have been proposed. We report a case of a 47-year-old non-smoker woman with wheezing dyspnea over the past two years, which was treated as asthma without improvement.

Impact of smoking on the severity of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome.

Background: Smoking is an established risk factor of several respiratory and extra respiratory diseases. However, the effect of smoking on obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is not well characterized. The purpose of this work is to study the influence of smoking on the severity of OSAS.

Spontaneous chylothorax revealing a mediastinal and abdominal lymph node tuberculosis.

Chylothorax is a rare manifestation of tuberculosis. We report a case of spontaneous chylothorax due to tuberculosis. A 62-year-old woman was admitted with fever, chest pain and dyspnea.

Prognostic factors of advanced stage non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background Lung cancer is the main cause of death from cancer in the world. The 5-year survival is about 15%. Despite the progress of medicine the mortality rate decreased only marginally.

Role of procalcitonin and c-reactive protein levels: a diagnostic tool in lower respiratory tract infections.

Background: Conventional biomarkers lack sensitivity and specificity for acute pulmonary Community (PAC). Procalcitonin (PCT) has been described in the literature for its usefulness in the PAC. The aim of our work was to study the contribution of the PCT in the positive diagnosis of PAC and in the initial assessment of the severity and the interest of CRP and PCT to distinguish lung infections from tuberculous origin of the PAC.

[Predictive factors of the outcome of smoking cessation among Tunisian women].

Background: The spread of smoking among women in Tunisia has reached alarming proportions because of increasing smoker rate, the younger age of smoking initiation and therefore its duration.

Aim: Identify predictors of success or failure of smoking cessation, Methods: we conducted a retrospective study (January 2008-June 2011), including 101 female smokers (19.8%) among 510 smokers of both sexes undergoing smoking cessation interventions.