Propylthiouracil-induced lupus-like or vasculitis syndrome.

A 27 year old female with Graves' disease presented with fever, exertional dyspnea and polyarthralgia. Erythema nodosum had occured three months earlier. The patient declared irregular use of propylthiouracil (PTU) for the last 8 months.

Anxiety and depression in COPD patients and correlation with sputum and BAL cytology.

Background And Aims: Anxiety and depression are common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The degree of lung function may not explain anxiety and depression. The aim of our study was to assess the psychological aspects of COPD, to test the BODE index (a composite score of body mass, obstruction, dyspnea and exercise capacity), and to evaluate the association between atypical cytologic findings of sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and the pyschological components of the disease.

Alveolar proteinosis in Behçet's disease.

A 51-year-old man with Behçet's disease complained of fever, dry cough and dyspnea during exertion. Chest CT showed ground glass opacities with interstitial septal thickening in both lungs. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) revealed amorphous and lipoproteinaceous material that was periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain positive.

Diagnosis of elastofibroma.

Elastofibroma is a relatively rare soft tissue mass. The lesion is probably reactive and occurs most commonly in the periscapular region. It is a degenerative benign neoplasm with the clinical appearence of a malignant tumour.