Effect of smoking and gender on pulmonary function and clinical features in sarcoidosis.

Background: The effect of cigarette smoking on the clinical manifestations and progression of sarcoidosis is not well characterized. We sought to determine the effects of smoking in sarcoidosis patients and to evaluate for gender-specific differences.

Methods: We examined the effects of cigarette smoking in 518 patients seen at the Sarcoidosis and Interstitial Lung Disease Center at Wayne State University using radiographic pattern, pulmonary function testing, and clinical features of the disease.

Fatal bromethalin poisoning.

Bromethalin is a neurotoxin found in some rodenticides. A delusional 21-year-old male presented to a hospital with altered mental status the day after ingesting a bromethalin-based rodenticide. He died 7 days after his self-reported exposure to c.

Assessment of mid flow rate measurements in patients undergoing methacholine challenge.

The objective of this study is to assess the FEF(25-75) and FEF(25-75)/FVC in relation to the FEV1 in patients who have had a methacholine inhalation challenge study for a variety of clinical indications. The study is a retrospective review of methacholine challenge results at the university medical center. One hundred twenty-one consecutive patients who had a methacholine challenge performed for clinical indications were included in the study with no intervention.

[Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia as a cause of "sudden cardiac death" with survival].

History: A 42 year old woman was resuscitated from ventricular fibrillation. 5 months previously she had a syncope. Her nephew had died of sudden cardiac death at the age of 25 years.

Reduced thermoregulatory null zone in postmenopausal women with hot flashes.

Objective: Most menopausal hot flashes are preceded by small elevations in core body temperature. If the thermoneutral zone between the thresholds for sweating and shivering is reduced in women with symptoms, the triggering mechanism for hot flashes could be explained.

Study Design: We studied 12 postmenopausal women with symptoms and 8 without symptoms.

Pulmonary diagnostic procedures in the critically ill.

When faced with a critically ill patient with new pulmonary infiltrates on chest roentgenograms, the physician must choose the appropriate diagnostic procedure on the basis of the expected yields versus the potential complications. The first steps in any patient should include discontinuation of any nonessential medications, careful evaluation of fluid status to exclude cardiogenic pulmonary edema, and a review of likely diagnoses based on the patient's underlying disease. Although not likely to be of immediate utility, obtaining cultures of blood and other body fluids or sites and serologic testing may provide helpful information when combined with other procedures.

Airway responses to inhaled ouabain in subjects with and without asthma.

Challenges with ouabain and histamine were performed a week apart in 10 patients with asthma and 5 normal subjects. Concentrations were increased cumulatively until specific airway conductance decreased by 30% or the maximal concentration of 1.0% was reached.

Pulmonary function in relapsing polychondritis.

The pulmonary mechanics and bronchoscopic findings in 5 patients with relapsing polychondritis were studied to evaluate the mechanism of obstruction. Two of the patients did not have clinical symptoms referable to the respiratory tract: pulmonary function was normal in 1 patient and was suggestive of mild restriction in the other. Three patients had dyspnea; pulmonary function studies revealed expiratory and inspiratory obstruction in all 3.

Effects of acute pleural effusion on respiratory system mechanics in dogs.

We determined regional (Vr) and overall lung volumes in six head-up anesthetized dogs before and after the stepwise introduction of saline into the right pleural space. Functional residual capacity (FRC), as determined by He dilution, and total lung capacity (TLC) decreased by one-third and chest wall volume increased by two-thirds the saline volume added. Pressure-volume curves showed an apparent increase in lung elastic recoil and a decrease in chest wall elastic recoil with added saline, but the validity of esophageal pressure measurements in these head-up dogs is questionable.

Effects of chest wall on volume and strain patterns in canine lungs.

Lobar functional residual capacity-to-total lung capacity ratios (FRC/TLC) and strains in five supine anesthetized dogs were determined from volumes and side lengths of tetrahedra formed by multiple intraparenchymal markers whose positions were determined roentgenographically. Strain is related to fractional changes in length of elements in a Cartesian coordinate system and was used to describe parenchymal distortion. Volumes and strain patterns were compared in three states: intact dogs, after transection of forelimb structures to relieve traction on the chest wall, and in dogs' excised lungs.

Quiet-breathing vs. panting methods for determination of specific airway conductance.

Specific airway conductance (sGaw) was measured during quiet breathing and during panting in 21 normal subjects and 10 patients with obstructive lung disease. The direct method used does not require measuring thoracic gas volume (TGV). Coefficients of variation were 5.

Studies on circulating soluble fibrin: separation of 125I-Des-AB fibrin and 131I-fibrinogen by gel filtration.

The behaviour of labelled des-AB fibrin in plasma was studied by gel filtration after it had been injected into rabbits. Purified rabbit [125I]des-AB fibrin was prepared by clotting of [125I]fibrinogen by thrombin and solubilizing the formed clot in buffered 3 M urea. Gel filtration of this material on urea-equilibrated columns showed a single peak identical to the elution profile of fibrinogen.