Invagination of the Sphenoid Sinus Mucosa after Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Approach and Its Significance.

Objective: To describe the clinical features of invagination of the sphenoid sinus mucosa (ISM) and compare them with other similar cases using a visual analog scale (VAS) to assess the various nasal symptoms and to discuss its clinical significance and means of prevention.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review at a tertiary referral center.

Methods: Between 2010 and 2015, 8 patients who had undergone EETSA surgery displayed postoperative ISM.

Choice between Levofloxacin and Moxifloxacin and Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment Outcomes.

Rationale: We previously showed that the choice of levofloxacin or moxifloxacin for the treatment of patients with fluoroquinolone-sensitive multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) did not affect sputum culture conversion at 3 months of treatment.

Objectives: To compare final treatment outcomes between patients with MDR-TB randomized to levofloxacin or moxifloxacin.

Methods: A total of 151 participants with MDR-TB who were included for the final analysis in our previous trial were followed through the end of treatment.

Comparison of levofloxacin versus moxifloxacin for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

Rationale: Levofloxacin (LFX) and moxifloxacin (MXF) are the two most frequently recommended fluoroquinolones for treatment of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). However, studies comparing the effectiveness of LFX and MXF among patients with MDR-TB are lacking.

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of LFX and MXF in terms of culture conversion after 3 months of treatment for MDR-TB.

Mycobacterium avium lung disease combined with a bronchogenic cyst in an immunocompetent young adult.

We report a very rare case of a bronchogenic cyst combined with nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease in an immunocompetent patient. A 21-year-old male was referred to our institution because of a cough, fever, and worsening of abnormalities on his chest radiograph, despite anti-tuberculosis treatment. Computed tomography of the chest showed a large multi-cystic mass over the right-upper lobe.

Hyaluronic acid pulmonary embolism: a critical consequence of an illegal cosmetic vaginal procedure.

The materials used for cosmetic procedures by physicians as well as illegally by non-medical personnel can cause non-thrombotic pulmonary embolism (NTPE). The case history is presented of a woman with acute respiratory failure after an illegal cosmetic vaginal procedure using hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal filler by an unlicensed medical practitioner on the day of symptom onset. Histopathological examination of a video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy specimen showed a granulomatous foreign body reaction with multinucleated giant cells around amorphous basophilic materials in the pulmonary vessels and lung parenchyma, suggesting NTPE by HA.

CysA2: A candidate serodiagnostic marker for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

Background And Objective: It is important to identify and test serologically active antigens in order to devise a mixture of antigens or peptides that is most useful for serodiagnosis. This study evaluated the serodiagnostic potential of CysA2, which has not previously been described as a serological antigen, together with those of PstS1, HspX, antigen 85 complex and CFP-10 proteins.

Methods: Serum IgG antibody titres against each antigen and a mixture of the antigens were measured by ELISA, in subjects with pulmonary tuberculosis and in healthy control subjects.

A case of pulmonary lymphomatoid granulomatosis successfully treated by combination chemotherapy with rituximab.

Lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LYG) is a rare angiocentric and angiodestructive lymphoproliferative disease characterized by Epstein-Barr virus-positive B cells admixed with reactive T cells. LYG most commonly affects the lung but can also involve other extrapulmonary sites. Pulmonary LYG usually presents as multiple pulmonary nodules with rapid progression and excavation.

Asthma-like symptoms are increased in the metabolic syndrome.

Background: The prevalence of obesity and asthma has been increasing during the last several decades. Obesity has been reported to be associated with asthma. Obesity, especially abdominal obesity, is the main component of the metabolic syndrome.

The immune tolerance of cancer is mediated by IDO that is inhibited by COX-2 inhibitors through regulatory T cells.

Prostaglandin (PGE2), synthesized by cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), is associated with cellular immune tolerance during the process of cancer development. Induction of tolerance requires a specific environment in which dendritic cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an essential role. It was recently shown that maturation of dendritic cells in the presence of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO) results in activation of Tregs, and inhibition of COX-2 activity regulated IDO expression within the tumor microenvironment.

Determining optimal sleep position in patients with positional sleep-disordered breathing using response surface analysis.

A lateral position (LP) during sleep is effective in reducing sleep disorder symptoms in mild or moderate sleep apnea patients. However, the effect of head and shoulder posture in LP on reducing sleep disorders has not been reported. In this study, effective sleeping positions and a combination of sleep position determinants were evaluated with respect to their ability to reduce snoring and apnea.

Inflammatory and transcriptional roles of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase in ventilator-induced lung injury.

Introduction: Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) participates in inflammation by cellular necrosis and the nuclear factor-kappa-B (NF-kappaB)-dependent transcription. The purpose of this study was to examine the roles of PARP in ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) in normal mice lung.

Methods: Male C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups: sham tracheostomized (sham), lung-protective ventilation (LPV), VILI, and VILI with PARP inhibitor PJ34 pretreatment (PJ34+VILI) groups.

Snoring as an independent risk factor for hypertension in the nonobese population: the Korean Health and Genome Study.

Background: Although the close relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and hypertension has been strengthened by the accumulated evidence, the issues of controlling for coexisting factors and the lack of definite evidence in presenting a cause-effect relationship still remain. This study aimed to evaluate the independent association between habitual snoring and the 2-year incidence of hypertension in a nonobese population in Korea.

Methods: Subjects were drawn from the Korean Health and Genome Study, which is an ongoing population-based prospective study of Korean adults aged 40 to 69 years.

Potential use of an anticancer drug gefinitib, an EGFR inhibitor, on allergic airway inflammation.

The EGFR plays an essential role in goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus hypersecretion. EGFR has an intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity that, when activated, induces the production of MUC5AC through the signaling kinase cascade in the airway epithelium. We have investigated the effects of an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, gefitinib, on ovalbumin (OVA)-induced, allergic inflammation in airway epithelia of mice.

Proteomic analysis of peripheral T-lymphocytes in patients with asthma.

Background: Asthma is chronic airway inflammation that occurs together with reversible airway obstruction. T-lymphocytes play an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Proteomic technology has rapidly developed in the postgenomic era, and it is now widely accepted as a complementary technology to genetic profiling.

Inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase-9 prevents neutrophilic inflammation in ventilator-induced lung injury.

Neutrophils are considered to play a central role in ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). However, the pulmonary consequences of neutrophil accumulation have not been fully elucidated. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) had been postulated to participate in neutrophil transmigration.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma inhibits cigarette smoke solution-induced mucin production in human airway epithelial (NCI-H292) cells.

The main etiologic factor for chronic bronchitis is cigarette smoke. Exposure to cigarette smoke is reported to induce goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus production. Mucin synthesis in airways has been reported to be regulated by the EGFR system.

PPAR-gamma agonist increase gefitinib's antitumor activity through PTEN expression.

Gefitinib exhibits antitumor activity in patient with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, only 10-20% of patients exhibit clinical response to this drug. The molecular mechanisms underlying gefitinib sensitivity remain unknown.

The inhibitory effects of rebamipide on cigarette smoke-induced airway mucin production.

Cigarette smoke may be the main cause of chronic bronchitis. Exposure of cigarette smoke induces the recruitment of inflammatory cells in the airway epithelium, and release of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) from airways. Previous reports have shown that cigarette smoke induces goblet cell metaplasia by activating an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) cascade, and that this results in mucin production.

Relation of epidermal growth factor receptor expression to mucus hypersecretion in diffuse panbronchiolitis.

Study Object: Diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) is a hypersecretory airway disease, and the mechanism of mucus hypersecretion in DPB is poorly understood. Moreover, mucin synthesis in the airways has been reported to be regulated by neutrophilic inflammation-induced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression, and the degranulation of goblet cells is known to be mediated by neutrophilic elastase. In this study, we examined the relationship between EGFR expression in the bronchiolar epithelium with neutrophilic inflammation and mucus hypersecretion in the tissues of DPB patients.