[Revisiting iatrogenic damage in pneumology past and current implications compared].

Current features of iatrogenic damage by pneumological practice are taken into account and compared with those traced in the past by Daddi and colleagues. The Authors stress the major chances occurred over time and moreover they emphasize the correlated implications that took place with prevention, therapies, informed consent and defensive medicine. Especially in oncological as well as non-oncological field the more relevant iatrogenic damages are represented by the pulmonary interstitial disease and pulmonary thromboembolism.

Congenital bronchial atresia (CBA). A critical review of CBA as a disease entity and presentation of a case series.

Purpose: To analyse the state of the art of diagnostic imaging in the rare disease entity known as congenital bronchial atresia (CBA) and to suggest new guidelines for diagnosis.

Materials And Methods: From January 2002 to December 2003 we examined 6 patients, 4 males and 2 females. Four of them complained of relapsing bronchitis; one patient was admitted with a diagnosis of pulmonary abscess.

Effects of aerosolized interferon-alpha in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) is a cytokine exerting pleiotropic activities, including antimicrobial effects, especially directed against intracellular infectious bacteria. It may be administered by aerosol to reach the lower respiratory tract without systemic side effects. The aim of the study reported here was the evaluation of aerosolized IFN-alpha treatment (3 MU/dose, given three times a week; total study dose: 72 MU/2 mo) in combination with conventional antimycobacterial therapy in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Spiral CT and endoscopic findings in a case of tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica.

The following is a report of CT and bronchoscopic findings in a 58-year-old man, a miner for approximately 30 years and suffering from pulmonary silicosis, admitted for a restaging of his lung disease. CT scans showed thickening of the interstitial structures and revealed a distorted trachea, with changes of its caliber, because of nodules of calcific density in the internal mucosa, clearly separated from the cartilaginous rings. The patient underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopy, confirming the presence of numerous nodules on the anterior and lateral walls, sparing the pars membranacea.

Pulmonary microlithiasis. Report of two cases.

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare disease characterized by widespread localization of calcispherites in the alveolar spaces. The patients are symptomless for a long time. Nevertheless, this disease slowly develops into pulmonary fibrosis and cardiac failure.

Multicystic dysplastic kidneys: spontaneous regression demonstrated with US.

In nine neonates, spontaneous regression of a multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK) was witnessed by means of repeated ultrasound (US) examinations. In three of these patients, the diagnosis was made in utero. Follow-up examinations at the ages of 3, 5, and 32 weeks post-partum showed what would have been called unilateral agenesis of the affected side if no fetal US study had been done.

[Frontal radiogram of the thorax in the present-day diagnosis of the mediastinum. Technic of execution and semeiology].

The advantages of high kilovoltage and pulmonary filters in frontal chest X ray are described, underliing the possibility of a simultaneous demonstration of both pulmonary fields and mediastinal structures. A description is given of the most important mediastinal lines and of their semeiological value in pathologic conditions. The excellent results obtained by means of hemifiltration in patients with opaque hemithorax are stressed.