Tobacco smoke: a risk factor for pulmonary arterial hypertension? A case-control study.

Background: Smoking is a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular, lung, and many other diseases. Smoking can induce pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in animal models; PAH is common in smokers with COPD and thereby not correlated with the degree of airway obstruction. The impact of tobacco smoke exposure on the development of PAH in humans is not known.

Renal cell carcinoma in transplant recipients with acquired cystic kidney disease.

Background: Acquired cystic kidney disease (ACKD) is a widely known renal cell carcinoma risk factor.

Design, Setting, Participants, And Measurements: An ultrasound screening of the native kidneys in all renal transplant patients of a renal outpatient clinic who received a transplant between 1970 and 1998 and presented between 1997 and 2003 (n = 916) was initiated prospectively. A total of 561 patients were screened.