A new method for enhanced expectoration of sputum by vibratory stimulation of the cervical trachea.

Background: Expectoration of sputum can be difficult for patients with respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, or bronchiectasis because of the effects of decreased pulmonary function, respiratory muscle fatigue, altered sputum properties, and impaired ciliary function. We developed a new method for the vibratory stimulation of the cervical trachea and this study aimed to compare it with the Acapella (a current oscillation device) method.

Methods: Patients with chronic productive cough and difficulty with expectoration were recruited for the study.

Orotate phosphoribosyltransferase is overexpressed in malignant pleural mesothelioma: Dramatically responds one case in high OPRT expression.

Objective: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and aggressive, treatment-resistant cancer. Pemetrexed, an inhibitor of thymidylate synthase (TS), is used worldwide for MPM as a first-line chemotherapy regimen. However, there is little consensus for a second-line chemotherapy.

The effects of daily bathing on symptoms of patients with bronchial asthma.

Background: The influence of bathing in asthma patients is not yet fully known.

Objective: We conducted an observational study to investigate changes in symptoms and their degree by bathing in asthmatic patients.

Methods: A questionnaire focusing on ever experienced bathing-induced symptom changes and their degree, as well as contributing factors, was designed and administered to asthmatic patients in the outpatient department of our institute between January 2012 and November 2013.

Bronchoscopy for Pulmonary Peripheral Lesions With Virtual Fluoroscopic Preprocedural Planning Combined With EBUS-GS: A Pilot Study.

Background: Virtual fluoroscopic preprocedural planning (VFPP) is a figure in which the trace lines between the trachea and the target lesions are constructed along the connecting bronchus on Ray Summation image similar to fluoroscopy. The lines can be displayed at any angle with 3D imaging. This system was applied to bronchoscopy as a reference for forceps guidance under the fluoroscopy, as a new type of navigation.

[An Elderly Patient with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Who Responded to Salvage S-1 Monotherapy after Gefitinib Therapy].

S-1 is one of the effective chemotherapy regimens for treating non-small cell lung cancer. We report of an elderly patient with non-small cell lung cancer who responded to S-1 monotherapy following gefitinib therapy. An 83-year-old woman was diagnosed with advanced adenocarcinoma of the lungs (cT3N3M1a, Stage IV).

Multiple tuberculous nodules with metachronous changes: a case report.

Background: Spontaneous regression of lesions occurs in non-infectious benign diseases, such as sarcoidosis, as well as in infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis. Lung cancer and malignant lymphoma, on the other hand, rarely follow a similar course. We report a rare case of lung tuberculosis that presented with multiple nodules with metachronous changes in size.