Disseminated adenovirus infection causing severe ARDS.

A previously healthy young man with a rare genetic condition presented with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to pneumonia with septic shock. He did not improve with conventional therapy for his known causal organism thus prompting further workup. He was found to be profoundly immunosuppressed raising our suspicion for atypical organisms.

Bronchial thermoplasty.

Bronchial thermoplasty is a relatively new therapy for the management of severe asthma. It involves the direct bronchoscopic application of thermal energy to airways by a catheter-directed expandable basket. The airways of the lower and upper lobes are treated in 3 separate sessions spaced 3 weeks apart.

Glomus tumor of the trachea.

Glomus tumors are uncommon soft tissue tumors that usually occur in the hands or feet but rarely have been described to appear in the tracheobronchial tree. Tracheal glomus tumors present with symptoms including cough, dyspnea, and wheezing that may be mistaken for other pulmonary disorders. Imaging and pulmonary function testing can detect tracheal obstruction, but pathology is necessary to differentiate glomus tumors from other airway tumors.

Generalized eruptive histiocytomas and rosai-dorfman disease presenting concurrently in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome.

Non-Langerhans cell histiocytoses were originally described as individual diagnoses. However, evidence has been mounting that these entities are manifestations on a spectrum of the same disease. The authors present a patient who initially presented with lymphadenopathy, pancytopenia, splenomegaly, and high-grade fevers.

HIV and asthma, is there an association?

Objective: To evaluate whether asthma and airway hyper-responsiveness are associated with HIV infection.

Methods: We reviewed the literature on HIV-associated pulmonary diseases, pulmonary symptoms, and immune changes which may play a role in asthma. The information was analyzed comparing the pre-HAART era to the post-HAART era data.

Asthma, the sex difference.

Purpose Of Review: asthma is a common chronic disease with significant clinical impact worldwide. Sex-related disparities in asthma epidemiology and morbidity exist but debate continues regarding the mechanisms for these differences. There is a need to review the recent findings for asthma care providers and to highlight areas in need of additional research.