A case of tracheobronchomegaly.

Tracheobronchomegaly (Mounier-Kuhn syndrome) is a rare condition characterized by an abnormally enlarged trachea and main bronchi. Herein, we present a case of 79-year-old male with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure due to multilobar pneumonia. Computed tomography of the chest demonstrated a markedly dilated trachea, with the transverse diameter of 31mm and the sagittal diameter of 30mm.

Obesity: "priming" the lung for injury.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a severe inflammatory condition that develops in response to local and systemic lung challenges. To date, specific risk factors for development of ALI remain poorly defined. Recent epidemiological studies have reported obesity as an important predisposing factor in the development of this condition.

Adiponectin attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury through suppression of endothelial cell activation.

Adiponectin (APN) is an adipose tissue-derived factor with anti-inflammatory and vascular protective properties whose levels paradoxically decrease with increasing body fat. In this study, APN's role in the early development of ALI to LPS was investigated. Intratracheal LPS elicited an exaggerated systemic inflammatory response in APN-deficient (APN(-/-)) mice compared with wild-type (wt) littermates.

Plasma adiponectin and mortality in critically ill subjects with acute respiratory failure.

Objective: : Adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory cytokine produced by adipose tissue, has been shown to modulate survival in animal models of critical illness. We examined the association between plasma adiponectin and clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with acute respiratory failure.

Design: : Secondary analysis of a single-center, randomized controlled trial.