Background: Pulmonary nocardiosis is a rare opportunistic infection, with approximately 15 % of patients being immunocompetent. The isolation rate of Nocardia spp. has recently increased, indicating rising clinical concern.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 64-year-old man with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) on hemodialysis presented with multiple lung masses. A computed tomography (CT)-guided biopsy revealed non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A cavitary mass in the right lung indicated primary NSCLC (cT2N1M1a, stage IVA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRespiratory infections caused by the human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus are a major cause of mortality for immunocompromised patients. Exposure to these pathogens occurs through inhalation, although the role of the respiratory epithelium in disease pathogenesis has not been fully defined. Employing a primary human airway epithelial model, we demonstrate that fungal melanins potently block the post-translational secretion of the chemokines CXCL1 and CXCL8 independent of transcription or the requirement of melanin to be phagocytosed, leading to a significant reduction in neutrophil recruitment to the apical airway both in vitro and in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although the positive rate of preresection pleural lavage cytology (PLC) is low, it is an important indicator of poor prognosis for non-small-cell lung cancer patients with frequent pleural dissemination (PD) recurrence. Thin-section computed tomography (TSCT) can reveal relationships between a primary tumor and the pleura at 1 to 2 mm intervals, and this is associated with visceral pleural invasion (VPI). However, its association with PLC remains unclear.
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