[Clinical effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus strain L-55-contained yogurt on symptoms of Japanese cedar pollen allergy].

Background: It has been reported that oral administration of Lactobacillus acidophilus strain L-55 (L-55) suppressed nasal symptom and antigen-specific IgE induced by antigen challenge in mice. We investigated clinical effects of L-55-contained yogurt on symptoms and IgE production in the patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis.

Method: The study was performed as a randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial.

[The relationships between the peak inspiratory flow and the characteristics factors in the asthmatics with inhaled corticosteroid -a multicenter study in Chugoku Shikoku area].

Background: Inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) will be effective if used properly. Inadequate intake may result in insufficiency, such as for elderly asthmatics, in particular, for use of dry powder inhalers.

Methods: 312 asthmatics treated with ICS for at least 6 months in the 6 facilities belonging to the Chugoku Shikoku Adult Asthma Research Forum were subject to investigation of the peak inspiratory flow (PIF) measured using In-check® and related factors.

Non-localized Mycobacterium avium lung disease successfully treated with lobectomy and chemotherapy.

A 17-year-old boy presented with a large cavity and bilateral nodular opacities on his chest roentgenogram. Mycobacterium avium was identified in his sputum. According to the recommendations of the American Thoracic Society, he was not strongly recommended to undergo surgery because of non-localized lesions.

Inflammatory markers in exhaled breath condensate from patients with asthma.

Background And Objective: Evaluation of airway inflammation is important for the diagnosis and treatment of asthma. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a minimally invasive method for assessing inflammation and may be useful for monitoring airway inflammation in asthma. The aims of this study were to establish an EBC collection method, to assess biomarkers reflecting asthmatic airway inflammation, and to determine the relationship of these biomarkers with asthma severity and lung function.

Distance and oxygen desaturation in 6-min walk test predict prognosis in COPD patients.

The aim of the present study was to predict the prognosis of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients who underwent comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). A total of 144 patients who performed PR between 1992 and 1999 was assessed. After PR, 67 patients underwent lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS).

Comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation according to severity of COPD.

A new classification for the severity of COPD was proposed at GOLD 2003: stage I: FEV(1) > or = 80% predicted; stage II: 50% < or = FEV(1)<80%; stage III: 30% < or = FEV(1)<50%; and stage IV: FEV(1) < 30%. To elucidate the acute effects of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on patients with different stages of COPD, data on pulmonary function, arterial blood gas analysis, the 6-min walk test, respiratory muscle strength, and activities of daily living were analyzed before and after our comprehensive 4- to 8-week inpatient PR program between 1992 and 2003. A total of 225 patients (201 men and 24 women; 21 with stage II, 79 with stage III, and 125 with stage IV COPD) was assessed.

[In vitro antituberculous activity of ofloxacin and levofloxacin against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and clinical outcomes].

Objective: To investigate in vitro antituberculous activity of ofloxacin (OFLX) and levofloxacin (LVFX) against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and to study the clinical outcomes.

Subjects And Methods: In vitro antituberculous activity of OFLX and LVFX against multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from 46 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and a retropective clinical analysis of 45 patients were investigated.

Results: In susceptibility testing, resistance rates to OFLX or LVFX were higher in intractable cases (7/20: 35%) and in cases with prior chemotherapy using new quinolones (5/12: 42 %).

[Antimycobacterial susceptibility against nontuberculous mycobacteria using brothmic NTM].

Purpose: Recently the incidence of pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacteria infection has increased among patients not only implicated with AIDS, but also without predisposing conditions. However, an effective antimicrobial therapy for the disease has not been established yet, because of the absence of highly active therapeutic drugs. We compared the in vitro antimicrobial activities of five antituberculous drugs, clarithromycin and fluoroquinolones against 92 clinical isolates belonging to three species of slowly growing nontuberculous mycobacteria.

Successful treatment of a patient with severe Churg-Strauss syndrome by a combination of pulse corticosteroids, pulse cyclophosphamide, and high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin.

A 24-year-old woman with a 4-year history of bronchial asthma suffered from bloody sputum, numbness of the extremities, elevated eosinophil count, and hypoxemia. A diagnosis of alveolar hemorrhage was made by bronchoalveolar lavage. Echocardiogram revealed severe hypokinesis of the left ventricular wall.

[Factors affecting the success or failure of smoking cessation using nicotine patches].

We identified the initial diagnostic factors that influenced the success or failure of patients trying to quit smoking using nicotine patches. In a smoking cessation treatment program at a smoking clinic, each patient received about 30 minutes of counseling in the initial diagnosis, then undertook a 2-month smoking cessation program using the nicotine patch. Between March 2000 and June 2002, 45 patients consulted the clinic.

[Pulmonary tuberculosis case with consistant findings of endobronchial spread in chest roentogenography for about three years: a case report].

We reported a case of pulmonary infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complicated by endobronchial spread. Chest roentogenography and CT for an 85-year-old male complaining of cough showed endobronchial spread in right upper lung field. His sputum culture for eight weeks showed 10-20 colonies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

[Interstitial pneumonia due to gefitinib followed in detail by high-resolution CT in a patient with adenocarcinoma of the lung].

We describe the case of a 69-year-old woman with advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung, in whom interstitial pneumonia was induced by gefitinib. The shadow was not clear on chest radiography, but diffuse ground-glass opacity was detected on high-resolution CT. Two treatments with pulse corticosteroids improved the lung injury temporarily.

Focal tuberculous lymphadenitis in an HIV-1 infected patient.

A 41-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of focal swelling of the left supraclavicular lymph nodes. Eighteen months prior to admission, he had been diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection and was started on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). He responded well to HAART with an increase in CD4+ cell count and improvement in symptoms.

[Effects of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae].

Pulmonary rehabilitation was evaluated for a mean period of 3.9 weeks in 37 inpatients with pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae. The rehabilitation program consisted of relaxation, breathing retraining, exercise training, respiratory muscle training and instruction.

[Tumor markers in pleural effusion of patients with lung cancer and patients with tuberculous pleurisy].

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 125 (CA 125), NCC-ST-439, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1), sialyl Lewis X-i antigen (SLX), progastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) and neuron specific enolase (NSE) were evaluated in the pleural effusion of 39 patients with lung cancer (29 adenocarcinomas, seven small-cell carcinomas, three squamous cell carcinomas) and 43 patients with tuberculous pleurisy. The levels of the tumor markers other than SCC and NSE were significantly higher in lung cancer than in tuberculosis. High levels of CYFRA 21-1 and SCC were observed in squamous cell carcinoma and high levels of ProGRP and NSE were observed in small-cell carcinoma.