Intrapulmonary Recombinant Factor VII as an Effective Treatment for Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage: A Case Series.

Background: The diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) syndrome is a life-threatening pulmonary complication related to systemic vasculitides, posthematopoietic stem cell transplantation, drugs, or toxins. Once DAH develops, the mortality rate is as high as 50% to 80%. Initial treatment consists of high-dose steroids and supportive measures, including mechanical ventilation.

Comparison of pulmonary complications after nonmyeloablative and conventional allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant.

Nonmyeloablative conditioning before allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) is an alternative to conventional conditioning in older patients and those with comorbidities. It is not known whether the decreased tissue injury associated with nonmyeloablative conditioning lowers the risk of pulmonary complications. The medical records of patients who underwent transplantation were reviewed and all pulmonary complications documented.

Stimulation of sphingosine 1-phosphate signaling as an alveolar cell survival strategy in emphysema.

Rationale: Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) inhibition increases ceramides in lung structural cells of the alveolus, initiating apoptosis and alveolar destruction morphologically resembling emphysema. The effects of increased endogenous ceramides could be offset by sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), a prosurvival by-product of ceramide metabolism.

Objectives: The aims of our work were to investigate the sphingosine-S1P-S1P receptor axis in the VEGFR inhibition model of emphysema and to determine whether stimulation of S1P signaling is sufficient to functionally antagonize alveolar space enlargement.