Clinical application of ghrelin for chronic respiratory failure.

Chronic respiratory failure, which is often caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic lower respiratory tract infection, or interstitial pneumonia, often leads to cachexia with disease progression. Patients who have chronic respiratory failure with cachexia exhibit increased morbidity. Although cachectic status is an important clinical problem, there are no effective therapies for cachexia.

Ghrelin administration for chronic respiratory failure: a randomized dose-comparison trial.

Background: Repeated ghrelin administration leads to improvements in symptoms, muscle wasting and exercise tolerance in cachectic patients with pulmonary disease. We investigated the optimal ghrelin dose for underweight patients with chronic respiratory failure.

Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, dose-comparison exploratory study, 44 cachectic patients with chronic respiratory failure were randomly assigned pulmonary rehabilitation with intravenous twice-daily administration of 1 or 2 μg/kg ghrelin for 3 weeks.

Long-term treatment with theophylline reduces neutrophils, interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the sputum of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: The non-selective phosphodiesterase inhibitor theophylline has bronchodilator/anti-inflammatory properties and is widely used in the treatment of airways diseases. We determined the effect of long-term theophylline treatment on airway inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Populations And Methods: Seventeen stable COPD patients were enrolled in the 12-month study.

[A case of paragonimiasis westermani with a worm migration track on chest CT].

A 59-year-old man with rusty-colored sputum was admitted for evaluation of a nodular shadow on his chest radiograph. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed nodules and nodular opacities with a cavity in the right S3. Chest CT also showed clearly a double linear shadow other than the bronchovascular bundle, with a different course from that of the bronchovascular bundle, suggesting a worm migration track.

A case of non-small cell lung cancer with false-positive staging by positron emission tomography.

A 70-year-old woman with right lung cancer was admitted to our hospital. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed an approximate 2.5 cm sized mass in the right middle lobe, and enlarged hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes.

Increased concentrations of human beta-defensins in plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis.

Background: Human beta-defensin (HBD)-1 and -2 are antimicrobial peptides present in the respiratory tract. Recent reports have indicated reduced activity of beta-defensins in cystic fibrosis, suggesting that beta-defensins may play an important role in the pathological process of chronic respiratory tract infection. Diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) is a progressive disease characterised by frequent episodes of superimposed infection, typically caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Acute eosinophilic pneumonia with fine nodular shadows.

A 19-year-old woman presented with acute onset of cough and dyspnea. She started smoking two weeks before the appearance of symptoms. On admission, arterial blood gas analysis on room air breathing revealed PaO2 55 Torr.

Raised plasma concentrations of alpha-defensins in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Neutrophils are thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Human neutrophils contain antimicrobial and cytotoxic peptides in the azurophil granules which belong to a family of mammalian neutrophil peptides named alpha-defensins. A study was undertaken to investigate the role of alpha-defensins in the pathogenesis of IPF.

[Clinical features in twenty-three patients with paragonimiasis westermani].

We assessed the clinical features in twenty-three cases diagnosed as paragonimiasis westermani from April 1988 to May 2000 in our clinic at Miyazaki Medical College Hospital. Twenty-one patients had eaten wild boar or crab meat. Their symptoms included productive cough, chest pain and hemosputum.

Clinicoradiologic features of pleuropulmonary Paragonimus westermani on Kyusyu Island, Japan.

Study Objective: Recently, the number of new cases of Paragonimus westermani in humans has gradually increased, and paragonimiasis is a re-emerging public health issue in Kyusyu, Japan. We review our recent experience with pleuropulmonary Paragonimus westermani.

Patients: Pulmonary paragonimiasis was diagnosed in 13 patients at the Third Department of Internal Medicine, Miyazaki Medical College between 1993 and 1999.

[Bronchial atresia with atelectasis of the left upper lobe].

A 69-year-old woman visited her physician on October 1 complain of dry cough. However, the chest radiograph revealed no abnormalities. She was later admitted to our hospital because a radiograph taken by another physician on November 26 revealed a massive lesion in the right upper mediastinum.

[A case of severe Legionnaires' disease complicated by rhabdomyolysis, acute renal failure, liver dysfunction and encephalopathy].

A 67-year-old male was admitted to our hospital due to a high fever with abnormal shadows on chest X-ray films. On admission, his laboratory data showed hyponatremia, rhabdomyolysis and liver dysfunction. Encephalopathy, acute renal failure and respiratory failure developed, despite fluid management and antimicrobial therapy.

[Pulmonary dirofilariasis with cavity formation and pleural effusion].

A 61-year-old man visited a community hospital because of hemosputum. A solitary nodule in the left lower lung field was pointed out on a chest roentgenogram. The patient was treated with antibiotics, but the solitary nodule increased in size.