PET-CT in the assessment of lung cancer at Rikshospitalet from 2007-2011.

Background: PET-CT is an aid in the assessment of lung cancer for identifying operable patients. The examination is recommended for most patients with non-small cell lung cancer whom the primary assessment has indicated may have a curable disease. The aim was to assess the usefulness of PET-CT for patients assumed to be operable who underwent an examination at Rikshospitalet.

Endoscopic treatment of bronchial carcinoids in comparison to surgical resection: a retrospective study.

Background: Surgery is the gold standard of lung carcinoid treatment. However, bronchoscopic treatment may provide a complete cure in selected patients. The aim of the study was to review the results of laser treatment of bronchial carcinoids and to compare the outcome after laser resection against the outcome after surgical resection.

Systemic biomarkers of inflammation and haemostasis in patients with chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate mediators of inflammation and haemostasis in patients with chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis (CNPA), a locally, destructive process of the lung due to invasion by Aspergillus species.

Methods: Measurements of selected biomarkers in 10 patients with CNPA and 19 healthy, matched controls were performed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and multiplex methodology. The gene expressions of relevant biomarkers were analyzed with real-time quantitative RT-PCR.

Diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography and histopathology in the diagnosis of usual interstitial pneumonia.

Background: The relative clinical benefit of histopathology and computed tomography (CT) in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) is under debate.

Purpose: To analyze thin-section CT features and histopathologic findings in patients with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) in the clinical context of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and to evaluate and compare diagnostic accuracy of the two methods among patients with an appropriate spectrum of IIP.

Material And Methods: The study included 91 patients (49 men; mean age 53.

Carcinoid lung tumors--incidence, treatment and outcomes: a population-based study.

Objective: Few published reports have examined the incidence and outcomes for patients with carcinoid lung tumors. The aim of the current study was to explore incidence, type of surgical treatment given, and outcome for patients with typical (TC) and atypical (AC) lung carcinoids in a national cohort (Norway).

Methods: All lung-cancer patients diagnosed in the period 1993-2005 and who were reported to the Cancer Registry of Norway were identified.

[Lung cancer without metastases--are all patients with resectable tumor operated?].

Background: Only 17% of patients with lung cancer are surgically resected, and the resection rate has not improved despite more attention about the disease. All patients with resectable disease should be offered operation and we wanted to investigate whether this is the case.

Material And Methods: We assessed patients that received the diagnosis localized lung cancer in the period 2003-2005 and were not resected according to the Cancer Registry of Norway (n = 322).

Resected synchronous primary malignant lung tumors: a population-based study.

Background: Synchronous lung tumors with a histology indicating primary lung carcinomas detected preoperatively or at surgery may represent intrapulmonary metastases from a primary tumor or two or more simultaneously occurring primary tumors. The situation is rare. This study was conducted to assess the characteristics and outcome for this patient group.

[Middle-aged man with fever, hypoxia and bilateral alveolar infiltrates].

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare condition characterized by excessive amounts of surfactant phospholipids and proteins within the pulmonary alveoli. Depending on the amount of surfactant in the alveoli, varying degrees of disturbed gas exchange develop. We report the case of a middle-aged man presenting with fever, dyspnoe, cough and bilateral alveolar infiltrates on chest X-ray.

The solitary pulmonary nodule--is it malignant or benign? Diagnostic performance of Tc-depreotide SPECT.

Background: The diagnosis of malignancy may be difficult to establish in solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs).

Objectives: It was the aim of this study to assess diagnostic performances of technetium-99m ((99m)Tc)-depreotide in differentiating benign from malignant SPNs and compare its diagnostic accuracy with fluor-18-fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in a subgroup of patients.

Methods: One hundred and eighteen patients presenting with an SPN < or =3 cm suspected of malignancy on CT were included in a prospective, open-label, European multicentre trial.

Lung cancer surgery: the first 60 days. A population-based study.

Objective: The postoperative mortality following lung cancer surgery is relatively high. The purpose of the present study was to identify preoperative risk factors as well as fatal complications in 27 Norwegian hospitals.

Methods: In Norway, all clinical and pathologic departments submit reports on cancer patients to the Cancer Registry of Norway.

Results of pulmonary resection for lung cancer in Norway, patients older than 70 years.

Objective: Surgical resection for lung cancer is the mainstay of curative treatment, but studies regarding postoperative results and long term outcome in the elderly have differed. The purpose of the present study was to assess the early and long-term results of surgical resection in patients more than 70 years of age.

Methods: In Norway all clinical and pathologic departments submit reports on cancer patients to the Cancer Registry of Norway.

Small cell lung cancer in Norway. Should more patients have been offered surgical therapy?

Objective: The final outcome of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is poor with an overall 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. Therefore, the question of surgery in patients with a technically-operable solitary tumor has been raised. The purpose of this study was to identify the proportion of patients with operable SCLC and to assess the prognosis of different treatment strategies.

[Causes of postoperative mortality after lung cancer surgery].

Background: There is a relatively high postoperative mortality after lung cancer surgery. However, the alternative is almost 100% mortality within five years if surgery is not performed.

Material And Methods: This study is based on data in the Cancer Registry of Norway and information from hospitals where the patients had been treated.

[Computed tomography in lung cancer--technique and quality].

Background: There are indications that more patients with lung cancer should be offered surgical treatment. The percentage of surgically treated patients varies from one region of Norway to the other. The Cancer Registry of Norway has received CT examinations from lung cancer patients who were not operated.

[Is the treatment of lung cancer in Norway adequate?].

Background: Almost 2,000 new cases of lung cancer are reported in Norway every year. Only 16-17% are operated upon with resection.

Material And Methods: Over the 1995-98 period, 1,035 not resected cases with localized lung cancer were reported to the Cancer Registry of Norway; 166 cases were excluded for various reasons.

[Acute respiratory failure caused by myotonic dystrophy].

Background: Respiratory insufficiency is not always caused by pulmonary diseases or diseases involving the pulmonary vasculature.

Material And Method: We present a case history of a 29-year-old patient with acute respiratory insufficiency following a gynaecological operation.

Results: Ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy and spiral-CT of thorax excluded pulmonary embolism.

[Bronchial resections].

In the period 1982-96, 18 bronchial resections were performed. Simple resection was carried out in eight patients, and in ten lung tissue was also removed; six upper lobes and three middle lobes were involved, and in one patient bilobectomy was necessary. The histologic diagnosis was carcinoid in 15 cases (83%), mucoepidermoid carcinoma in two, and in one case neurofibroma.

When to suspect and how to diagnose pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis.

The objective of this study was to present clinical and radiological data of eight women with histologically proven lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) diagnosed between 1984 and 1994, and to suggest a diagnostic strategy when LAM is suspected. A review of case reports, including results of biopsies, lung function and radiological procedures was undertaken. The mean age of the women at start of symptoms was 36 years, and the mean age at time of diagnosis 42 years.

[Embolization of congenital pulmonary arteriovenous malformations].

Patients with arteriovenous pulmonary malformations are at risk of developing secondary brain disease such as transient ischemic attacks, strokes or abscesses. Lethal haemothorax and haemoptysis also occur. 12 of 14 malformations in five patients were treated using a total of eight procedures.

Deaths from active tuberculosis: can we rely on notification and mortality figures?

Setting: Notification rates and mortality are the main indicators in the epidemiology of tuberculosis. While errors in case notification are known to be considerable, the quality of the data on deaths is largely unknown.

Objective: To validate the quality of data on deaths from active tuberculosis.

[An answer to an inquiry on diffuse panbronchiolitis. Now it has found its way here!].

Diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) is a disease characterised by chronic inflammation in the region of respiratory bronchioles. The condition has mainly been observed in Japanese patients, though isolated cases have been reported from other countries. In a review published in Läkartidningen (37/94), the question was raised of why this disease had not been seen in Scandinavia, and whether this might be the result of missed diagnosis.

Adverse reaction to food: assessment by double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge and clinical, psychosomatic and immunologic analysis.

Double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC) with food items applied in capsules was performed in a prospective study of 17 selected patients and 34 age- and sex-matched healthy controls in the interdisciplinary clinical setting. Protein immunoblotting showed no differences in antigenicity between foods in the capsules and the corresponding fresh foods. All patients reacted to one or more food substances during DBPCFC, with a doubtful reaction to placebo in 2 patients.

Deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis in a low-incidence country.

Objectives: To study the validity of official mortality statistics regarding deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis, and to identify factors contributing to death.

Design: A retrospective study.

Setting: Cases were enrolled from the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics from where the official mortality statistics are issued, the National Tuberculosis Register and all Autopsy Registers in the region.