Validity and repeatability of the IUATLD (1984) Bronchial Symptoms Questionnaire: an international comparison.

The International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) Bronchial Symptoms Questionnaire (1984) was developed for use in studies of asthma and its reliability measured in an earlier survey in England. The association of the symptoms elicited by this questionnaire to bronchial response to histamine has also been described. This paper presents the results of studies of the questionnaire in four clinical centres in Europe.

Behavioral factors in the etiology of asthma.

Evidence for the role of behavior in the etiology of asthma is reviewed here. Behavioral factors have not convincingly been shown to play a part in the inception of asthma. It has been suggested that asthma attacks can be precipitated by conditioning.

Safety and efficacy of alinidine in symptom-free asthmatics.

Alinidine is a new bradycardic agent which has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of coronary heart disease. Patients with both coronary heart disease and obstructive lung disease are difficult to treat, because the use of beta-blockers in them is greatly limited by their potential to provoke bronchospasm. Alinidine has no beta-blocking, muscarinic or quinidine-like properties.

Effect of diltiazem on methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction in extrinsic asthmatics.

The protective effect of the calcium antagonist diltiazem on methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction was investigated in 19 extrinsic asthmatics. A double-blind cross-over design was used (diltiazem vs. placebo, administered orally for 1 week).

Beta-adrenoceptor blockers and terbutaline in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease. Effects and interaction after oral administration.

We studied the effects of a combined treatment with beta 2-stimulating and beta-blocking drugs in 35 patients suffering from chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) and ischemic heart disease, and/or arterial hypertension. The drugs used were equipotent repeated oral doses of metoprolol (100 mg twice daily [bid]), propranolol (80 mg bid), and a matching placebo for beta-adrenoceptor blockade given in a double-blind and crossover fashion. The intake period of each beta-blocker was two days with consecutive two-day-washout period; 2.

[Immunotherapy with BCG and mycobacterial fractions and its use in bronchogenic carcinoma (author's transl)].

Animal experiments at the Nat. Cancer Inst. have established that only intra-tumorous application of BCG vaccine has a lasting immunotherapeutic effect on transplantable tumours.

Efficacy of reproterol assessed by the acetylcholine provocation test.

The acute broncholytic efficacy and the protective anticonstrictive effectiveness of a new beta 2-receptor stimulator, Reproterol, was tested in 16 patients with the acetylcholine (ACH) provocation test. Plethysmographic airway resistance determinations (Raw) and flow volume curves (VEmax50%/FVC) were used as assessment parameters. All patients proved susceptible to ACH provocation, in as much they demonstrated a significant rise in the Raw from 2.

Dopamine induced hypoxemia in patients with left heart failure.

Previous studies in our laboratory have demonstrated that dopamine produces a significant decrease in arterial PO2 and a mild increase in arterial PCO2 in patients with left heart failure. The present investigations were designed to find out dopamine-induced effects impairing gas exchange. In patients with left heart failure and pulmonary congestion the true pulmonary shunt has been determined by O2-breathing.

[Significance of forced expiratory vital capacity-curves to detect early mechanical alterations in human lungs (author's transl)].

In persons who have been smoking cigarettes for many years, who have normal conventional lung function tests the semilogarithmical plotting of forced expiratory vital capacity curves (FEVC) shows statistically significant differences in volume changes below 25 per cent of vital capacity when compared to FEVC-curves of normal subjects of comparable age. On the basis of the equal pressure point theory it is suggested that the simple semilogarithmical plotting of FEVC-curves may reveal early mechanical alterations rather than can be shown by spirometry and airway resistance measurements.

Oxygen affinity of haemoglobin and red cell acid-base status in patients with severe chronic obstructive lung disease.

The oxygen affinity of hemoglobin and the factors determining the position of the oxygen dissociation curve were investigated in twenty-five patients with severe chronic obstructive lung disease. Patients have been separated into three groups: group I showed a normal or mild decrease of PaO2, group II a moderate fall in arterial oxygen pressure, and group III a severe hypoxia with balanced acid-base equilibrium and hypercapnia. Blood hemoglobin exhibited a significant increase in all groups, indicating an improved oxygen transport.