Applicable predictive factors extracted from peak flow trajectory for the prediction of asthma exacerbation.

Background: Real-time asthma exacerbation prediction and acute asthma attack detection are essential for patients with severe asthma. Peak expiratory flow (PEF) exhibits a potential for use in long-term asthma self-monitoring. However, the method for processing PEF calculations remains to be clarified.

Relationships of computed tomography-based small vessel indices of the lungs with ventilation heterogeneity and high transfer coefficients in non-smokers with asthma.

The mechanism of high transfer coefficients of the lungs for carbon monoxide (Kco) in non-smokers with asthma is explained by the redistribution of blood flow to the area with preserved ventilation, to match the ventilation perfusion. To examine whether ventilation heterogeneity, assessed by pulmonary function tests, is associated with computed tomography (CT)-based vascular indices and Kco in patients with asthma. Participants were enrolled from the Hokkaido-based Investigative Cohort Analysis for Refractory Asthma (Hi-CARAT) study that included a prospective asthmatic cohort.

Association of serum CC16 levels with eosinophilic inflammation and respiratory dysfunction in severe asthma.

Background: There are knowledge gaps in the potential role of Club cell 16-kDa secretory protein (CC16) in severe asthma phenotypes and type 2 inflammation, as well as the longitudinal effect of CC16 on pulmonary function tests and exacerbation risk in epidemiological studies.

Objective And Methods: To assess whether serum CC16 is associated with eosinophilic inflammation in patients with severe asthma. We also examined the effect of this protein on the annual decline in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV) and the risk of exacerbation using a longitudinal approach.

Differential role of mucus plugs in asthma: Effects of smoking and association with airway inflammation.

Background: The physiological importance of mucus plugs in computed tomography (CT) imaging is being increasingly recognized. However, whether airway inflammation and smoking affect the association between mucus plugs and clinical-physiological outcomes in asthma remains to be elucidated. The objective of this study is to examine how airway inflammation and/or smoking affect the correlation of CT-based mucus plug scores with exacerbation frequency and airflow limitation indices in asthma.

Case Report: Hereditary Fibrosing Poikiloderma With Tendon Contractures, Myopathy, and Pulmonary Fibrosis (POIKTMP) Presenting With Liver Cirrhosis and Steroid-Responsive Interstitial Pneumonia.

Hereditary fibrosing poikiloderma with tendon contractures, myopathy, and pulmonary fibrosis (POIKTMP) is an extremely rare disease caused by mutations in FAM111B, and only approximately 30 cases have been reported worldwide. Some patients develop interstitial pneumonia, which may lead to progressive pulmonary fibrosis and poor prognosis. However, no effective treatment for interstitial pneumonia associated with POIKTMP has been reported.

Further evidence for association of YKL-40 with severe asthma airway remodeling.

Background: The chitinase-like protein YKL-40 is associated with airflow limitation on spirometry and airway remodeling in patients with asthma. It remains unclear whether YKL-40 is associated with morphologic changes in the airways and parenchyma or with future progression of airflow limitation in severe asthma.

Objective: To evaluate the association of circulating YKL-40 levels with morphologic changes in the airways and parenchyma and with longitudinal progression of airflow limitation.

Nivolumab-induced immune thrombocytopenia in a patient with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and highly aggressive tumor. Nivolumab showed durable antitumor effect in patients with recurrent MPM and was approved for those patients in Japan in 2018. Immune related adverse event (irAE) is occurred in various organs and is suggestive to be related to better outcome of nivolumab.

Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung that responded to nivolumab: A case report.

Pulmonary large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) is a rare type of lung cancer, accounting for 3% of all lung cancers. The prognosis is poor and the standard therapy has not been well established. Herein, we report a case of advanced LCNEC of the lung that responded to nivolumab.