Familial Mediterranean Fever with Rheumatoid Arthritis Complicated by Pulmonary Paragonimiasis.

A 42-year-old woman presented with an intermittent fever and chest and back pain, and an abnormal chest shadow was detected. She was diagnosed with paragonimiasis caused by Paragonimus westermani. Praziquantel therapy improved the abnormal chest shadow, but did not relieve her symptoms.

Angiopoietin-2 expression in patients with an acute exacerbation of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias.

Background And Objective: We hypothesized that increased pulmonary vascular permeability may play a role in the pathogenesis of an acute exacerbation of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (AE-IIPs). Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) promotes endothelial activation, destabilization, and inflammation. The purpose of this study was to examine whether Ang-2 expression was associated with the pathogenesis of AE-IIPs.

Tracheal ulcer due to Epstein-Barr virus-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the elderly.

A 74-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of a tracheal stenosis circumscribed with soft tissue density and a left pulmonary nodule. Open biopsy of a right submandibular lymph node revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and the malignant cells were positive for Epstein-Barr virus gene products. Bronchofiberscopy revealed a tracheal necrotizing ulcer.

Incidence of myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody positivity and microscopic polyangitis in the course of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Pulmonary fibrosis is a manifestation of microscopic polyangitis (MPA), and often precedes the detection of MPA. The prevalence and sequence of myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (MPO-ANCA) and MPA in patients initially diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have not been precisely elucidated.

Methods: We enrolled 61 consecutive patients with IPF and measured the MPO-ANCA titers at initial presentation and during the follow-up period.

Incidentally discovered primary malignant melanoma of the trachea.

Primary malignant melanoma of the trachea is extremely rare. We report here the first case of primary tracheal malignant melanoma in the asymptomatic stage. Incidentally, this 73-year-old man was found to have a flat tumor at the upper trachea on chest computed tomography scans.

E3710, a new proton pump inhibitor, with a long-lasting inhibitory effect on gastric acid secretion.

We have investigated the pharmacology of sodium (R)-2-[4-(2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxan-5-yl) methoxy-3,5-dimethylpyridin-2-yl]methylsulfinyl-1H-benzimidazol (E3710), a new proton pump inhibitor (PPI), and its effect on gastric acid secretion. E3710 irreversibly inhibited H(+),K(+)-ATPase activity in pig gastric vesicles with an acidic internal environment with an IC(50) of 0.28 microM.