Predictors of health-related quality of life among semi-precious stone mineworkers exposed to silica dust.

Objective: The study aimed to comparatively evaluate HRQOL in miners of semi-precious stones with and without silicosis, and determine the associated factors, as well as the performance of two different questionnaires in measuring HRQOL.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 348 male miners (129 with silicosis) who underwent an interview and spirometry, HRQOL was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire and the Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ).

Results: Miners with silicosis were older, had less schooling, worked more hours daily, and had longer exposure to silica.

Lung function and functional exercise capacity in underground semi-precious stone mineworkers.

Background: Semi-precious stone mining may cause occupational lung disease. The impact of inhaling silica on workers' exercise capacity has only been partially studied.

Objectives: To study lung function, exercise capacity, and identify factors associated with functional impairment.

Pulmonary rehabilitation improves survival in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis undergoing lung transplantation.

This study was conducted to evaluate whether a pulmonary rehabilitation program (PRP) is independently associated with survival in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) undergoing lung transplant (LTx). This quasi-experimental study included 89 patients who underwent LTx due to IPF. Thirty-two completed all 36 sessions in a PRP while on the waiting list for LTx (PRP group), and 53 completed fewer than 36 sessions (controls).

Proportional weight loss in six months as a risk factor for mortality in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: To evaluate different weight loss (WL) cut-off points as prognostic markers of 3-month survival after diagnosis of stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: This was a prospective study involving 104 patients with metastatic (stage IV) NSCLC who were admitted to a cancer treatment center in southern Brazil between January of 2014 and November of 2016. We evaluated total WL and WL per month, as well as WL and WL per month in the 6 months preceding the diagnosis.

Rhinosinusitis symptoms, smoking and COPD: Prevalence and associations.

Objective (s): To estimate the prevalence and associations among rhinosinusitis symptoms, smoking and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Population-based.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients With Advanced Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Referred for Lung Transplantation.

Purpose: Currently, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has a weak recommendation for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and is often recommended for mild to moderate disease. We aimed to investigate the completion rate of PR in patients with advanced IPF, to analyze whether the severity of disease influences PR response and whether there is any difference between subjects who are able or not able to successfully complete the program.

Methods: Patients with IPF referred to lung transplantation (n = 48) were enrolled in an outpatient PR program including 3 times/wk supervised exercise training during 12 wk.

High-resolution computed tomography findings of pulmonary tuberculosis in lung transplant recipients.

Objective: Respiratory infections constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality in solid organ transplant recipients. The incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis is high among such patients. On imaging, tuberculosis has various presentations.

What is expected in lung function after lung transplantation due to end-stage pulmonary silicosis?

In this study, we aimed to determine the impact of lung transplantation (LTx) on pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and survival among patients with end-stage silicosis. We included patients with end-stage silicosis on the wait list for LTx, between January 1989 and July 2015 (N = 26). Sixteen of these patients received LTx; 10 were eligible, but did not undergo LTx (non-LTx) during the study period.

Silicosis prevalence and risk factors in semi-precious stone mining in Brazil.

Background: Underground mining generates large amounts of dust and exposes workers to silica. This study aims to determine the prevalence and predictor factors for the development of silicosis among semi-precious-stone mineworkers in southern Brazil working in a self-administered cooperative.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 348 current workers and retirees, demographic data, medical, and occupational history were collected through an interview performed by a nurse and medical record review.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis in subjects included in the Second National Survey on Antituberculosis Drug Resistance in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) among tuberculosis patients in a major Brazilian city, evaluated via the Second National Survey on Antituberculosis Drug Resistance, as well as the social, demographic, and clinical characteristics of those patients.

Methods: Clinical samples were collected from tuberculosis patients seen between 2006 to 2007 at three hospitals and five primary health care clinics participating in the survey in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The samples were subjected to drug susceptibility testing.

Reversal of pulmonary hypertension in children after adenoidectomy or adenotonsillectomy.

Introduction: Adenotonsillar hypertrophy is a common condition in pediatric patients with upper respiratory airways complaints, and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) may be one complication of that condition.

Objectives: To study the occurrence of PAH (mean pulmonary artery pressure higher than or equal to 25 mmHg) in a group of children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy and upper respiratory complaints (snoring or oral breathing), and to verify the pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) changes after adenotonsillectomy.

Study Design: Case-control prospective study.

Emphysema index in a cohort of patients with no recognizable lung disease: influence of age.

Objective: To investigate the effects of age on pulmonary emphysema, based on the values of the emphysema index (EI) in a cohort of patients who had never smoked and who had no recognizable lung disease.

Methods: We reviewed the CT scans, reported as normal, of 315 patients. Exclusion criteria were a history of smoking, cardiorespiratory disease, and exposure to drugs that could cause lung disease.

Pulmonary tuberculosis treatment regimen recommended by the Brazilian National Ministry of Health: predictors of treatment noncompliance in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Objective: To determine the predictors of noncompliance with the pulmonary tuberculosis treatment regimen recommended by the Brazilian National Ministry of Health, in previously treatment-naïve patients with active tuberculosis treated in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Methods: This was a case-control study involving six referral primary health care clinics for tuberculosis in Porto Alegre. We reviewed the medical charts of all previously treatment-naïve patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis who were noncompliant with the treatment between 2004 and 2006.

Association between paracoccidioidomycosis and cancer.

Objective: To analyze the association between paracoccidioidomycosis (Pcm) and cancer in a series of 25 cases and to review the literature on this topic.

Methods: A retrospective review of 25 cases diagnosed with Pcm and cancer, retrieved from a series of 808 consecutive adult patients diagnosed with Pcm based on tests conducted in the Mycology Laboratory of the Santa Casa Complexo Hospitalar, in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, between 1972 and 2007. The diagnosis of Pcm was confirmed by means of direct microscopic examination, histopathological examination or immunodiffusion test.

Surgical treatment of bronchial carcinoid tumors: a single-center experience.

Background: Bronchial carcinoid is an infrequent neoplasm with a neuroendocrine differentiation. Surgical treatment is the gold standard therapy, with procedures varying from sublobar resections to complex lung sparing broncoplastic procedures. This study evaluates the results of surgical treatment of bronchial carcinoids and its prognostic factors.

Prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and to evaluate its clinical presentation, as well as the esophageal function profile in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Methods: In this prospective study, 28 consecutive patients with IPF underwent stationary esophageal manometry, 24-h esophageal pH-metry and pulmonary function tests. All patients also completed a symptom and quality of life in GERD questionnaire.

Evolution of exogenous lipoid pneumonia in children: clinical aspects, radiological aspects and the role of bronchoalveolar lavage.

Objective: To present aspects of the evolution of lipoid pneumonia in children, based on clinical, radiological and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid findings, emphasizing the importance of bronchoalveolar lavage for the diagnosis and treatment.

Methods: We included 28 children, with a mean age of 20 months (range, 1-108 months), diagnosed with chronic pneumonia refractory to antimicrobial therapy, with TB or with a combination of the two. Most of the children had at least one risk factor for aspiration, and all of them had a history of mineral oil ingestion for intestinal constipation (23/28) or complicated ascaridiasis (5/28).

CT quantification of emphysema in young subjects with no recognizable chest disease.

Objective: The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate volumetric CT emphysema quantification (CT densitovolumetry) in a young population with no recognizable lung disease.

Subjects And Methods: A cohort of 30 nonsmoking patients with no recognizable lung disease (16 men, 14 women; age range, 19-41 years) underwent inspiratory and expiratory CT, after which the data were postprocessed for volumetric quantification of emphysema (threshold, -950 HU). Correlation was tested for age, weight, height, sex, body surface area (BSA), and physical activity.

[Reversal of digital clubbing in surgically treated lung cancer patients].

Objective: To objectively evaluate the reversal of digital clubbing (DC) in a series of surgically treated lung cancer patients, and to review the literature on the subject.

Methods: Sixty-one patients with non-small cell lung cancer--40 with and 21 without DC--were treated by pulmonary resection. Eleven (18%) received additional postoperative radiation therapy.

[Immediate bronchodilator response to formoterol in poorly reversible chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

Objective: To evaluate, using pulmonary function tests, the effectiveness of formoterol as a bronchodilator at 30 min after its administration in patients with poorly reversible COPD.

Methods: A prospective study including 40 COPD patients not responding to the short-acting bronchodilator used in the spirometric test-variation of less than 200 mL and less than 7% of predicted in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). All patients were classified as having stage II, III, or IV COPD (Brazilian Thoracic Society/Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) and presented FEV1 < 70% of predicted value.

Complications related to lobectomy in living lobar lung transplant donors.

Objective: To evaluate post-operative complications in living lobar lung transplant donors.

Methods: Between September of 1999 and May of 2005, lobectomies were performed in 32 healthy lung transplant donors for 16 recipients. The medical charts of these donors were retrospectively analyzed in order to determine the incidence of postoperative complications and alterations in pulmonary function after lobectomy.

A comparison between ventilation modes: how does activity level affect energy expenditure estimates?

Background: An appropriate diet is essential to avoid complications of overfeeding or underfeeding in mechanically ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The paucity of consistent comparative data on energy expenditure for each ventilation mode complicates diet prescription. This study evaluates caloric requirements by comparing estimated and measured energy expenditure values for 2 ventilation modes.

Lung abscess: analysis of 252 consecutive cases diagnosed between 1968 and 2004.

Objective: To relate the experience of the staff at a health care facility specializing in the management of patients with aspiration lung abscess.

Methods: Diagnostic aspects and therapeutic results of 252 consecutive cases of lung abscess seen in patients hospitalized between 1968 and 2004.

Results: Of the 252 patients, 209 were male, and 43 were female.

The clinical utility of induced sputum for the diagnosis of bacterial community-acquired pneumonia in HIV-infected patients: a prospective cross-sectional study.

Background: Bacterial pneumonias have been overcoming pneumocytosis in frequency. Controversy still remains about how to manage immunocompromised patients and those with lung diseases. Sputum analysis is a noninvasive and simple method, and when interpreted according to specific criteria it may help with diagnosis.

Determination of penicillin resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from southern Brazil by PCR.

Objective: To demonstrate the potential clinical applicability of the PCR technique to the early detection of bacterial resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Methods: We studied 153 samples of S. pneumoniae, isolated from different anatomic sites, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of specific amplicons from genes that code for penicillin-binding proteins (PBP) 1a, 2b and 2x, which are responsible for penicillin resistance in this organism.