Endoluminal stenosis of proximal bronchi in sarcoidosis: bronchoscopy, function, and evolution.

Aim: Endoluminal stenosis of proximal bronchi (ESPB) is a potentially severe manifestation of sarcoidosis. Unusual clinical presentation and variable response to medical treatment require specific attention to diagnosis and follow-up.

Design: Of 2,500 patients with sarcoidosis seen at our institution, we retrospectively identified 18 patients with stage 1-3 sarcoidosis and ESPB.

Glucose, K+, and albumin concentrations in the alveolar milieu of normal humans and pulmonary sarcoidosis patients.

Some properties of the alveolar epithelial barrier during transalveolar transport of water and solutes were studied in normal humans and patients with sarcoidosis by means of the transalveolar capillary concentration gradients of various solutes. A total of 9 normal control subjects (Group A) and 60 sarcoidosis patients, 52 with an evolving disease (Group B) and 8 recovered (Group C), underwent bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). The second aliquot of fluid was used to measure urea, glucose, potassium, and albumin, which were also investigated in plasma.

[Diagnosis of respiratory allergies to fungi and Candida albicans].

Allergy to fungi and Candida albicans raises diagnostic and therapeutic problems that are common to pneumology and allergology. The results of this study seem to support the use of bronchial challenge tests for diagnosis and of specific desensitization for treatment.

[Data on the etiology of the liquid of broncho-alveolar lavage in mediastino-pulmonary sarcoidosis (author's transl)].

The cell population of the liquid of broncho-alveolar lavage of 44 cases of mediastino-pulmonary sarcoidosis was compared to that of 12 normal controls, of 14 controls with a localized pulmonary affection, who underwent lavage in healthy contro-lateral segment, and of 33 patients with various diffuse interstitial pneumopathies, except hypersensitivity ones. In sarcoidosis, the total number of cells is significantly higher than in controls; such is the case for neutrophils. It is also higher for lymphocytes in sarcoidosis: 21.