Glucocorticoid Treatment of Symptomatic Sarcoidosis in 2 Morbidly Obese Patients.

Corticosteroid management for patients with sarcoidosis requires the need for close monitoring to detect and manage any complications that may arise during treatment.

Methods for staging non-small cell lung cancer: Diagnosis and management of lung cancer, 3rd ed: American College of Chest Physicians evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.

Background: Correctly staging lung cancer is important because the treatment options and prognosis differ significantly by stage. Several noninvasive imaging studies and invasive tests are available. Understanding the accuracy, advantages, and disadvantages of the available methods for staging non-small cell lung cancer is critical to decision-making.

Race and lung cancer surgery--a qualitative analysis of relevant beliefs and management preferences.

Purpose/objectives: To gain a better understanding of beliefs about the utility of lung cancer resection surgery and preferences for lung cancer management among African American and Caucasian adults.

Research Approach: Qualitative.

Setting: The Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

"The air got to it:" exploring a belief about surgery for lung cancer.

Background: The belief that exposure of lung cancer to air during surgery causes tumor spread is prevalent but poorly understood.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to summarize the published literature on the potential historical origins of this belief, study the recurrence rates of surgically treated stage I nonsmall cell lung cancer, research the mechanisms by which surgery might promote tumor growth and metastasis, and examine the social and cultural implications of this belief.

Data Sources: Various databases, reference lists, and expert contacts were the sources of data.

Noninvasive staging of non-small cell lung cancer: ACCP evidenced-based clinical practice guidelines (2nd edition).

Background: Correctly staging lung cancer is important because the treatment options and the prognosis differ significantly by stage. Several noninvasive imaging studies including chest CT scanning and positron emission tomography (PET) scanning are available. Understanding the test characteristics of these noninvasive staging studies is critical to decision making.

Change in forced expiratory time and spirometric performance during a single pulmonary function testing session.

Background: Among patients with obstructive lung disease, the correlation between clinical improvement and bronchodilator response is poor. Forced expiratory time (FET) may explain some discrepancy, but FET has received little attention.

Methods: We analyzed change in FET during the 3 initial satisfactory flow-volume loops in 102 consecutive patients, 37 with normal spirometry and 65 with airflow obstruction referred to a Veterans Administration pulmonary function testing (PFT) laboratory over 5 months.

Racial differences pertaining to a belief about lung cancer surgery: results of a multicenter survey.

Background: Patients at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center frequently voice concern that air exposure during lung cancer surgery might cause tumor spread. Several African-American patients asserted that this belief was common in the African-American community.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of the belief that air exposure during lung cancer surgery might cause tumor spread and gauge the influence of this belief on the willingness of African-American and white patients to have lung cancer surgery.

The noninvasive staging of non-small cell lung cancer: the guidelines.

Correctly staging lung cancer is extremely important because the treatment options and the prognosis differ significantly by stage. Several noninvasive imaging studies are available to aid in identifying disease both within and outside of the chest. Chest CT scanning is useful in providing anatomic detail that better identifies the location of the tumor, its proximity to local structures, and whether or not lymph nodes in the mediastinum are enlarged.