Long-term, low-dose erythromycin monotherapy for Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease: a propensity score analysis.

Multidrug regimens are initially withheld in mild cases of pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) disease. Based on the anti-inflammatory effects of macrolides, some patients are treated with erythromycin, which does not appear to exhibit cross-resistance with clarithromycin in MAC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects and adverse events of erythromycin monotherapy in patients with pulmonary MAC disease.

[A case of giant tumorous shadow by pulmonary tuberculosis].

A 63-year-old woman who had been treated for myelodysplastic syndrome had a high fever. Chest radiography and computed tomography revealed a giant tumorous shadow from the right mediastinum to the hilum. She was treated with antibiotics but with little effect.

[A clinical study of miliary tuberculosis].

Eighteen patients with miliary tuberculosis (MTB) were admitted to our hospital from 1994 to 2003. The mean age of the patients was 63.9 years (range 19-92).

[A case of paragonimiasis westermani with a worm migration track on chest CT].

A 59-year-old man with rusty-colored sputum was admitted for evaluation of a nodular shadow on his chest radiograph. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed nodules and nodular opacities with a cavity in the right S3. Chest CT also showed clearly a double linear shadow other than the bronchovascular bundle, with a different course from that of the bronchovascular bundle, suggesting a worm migration track.

[Clinical characteristics of elderly patients with tuberculosis].

The purpose of this report is to elucidate the characteristics of elderly patients with tuberculosis (TB), based on 235 patients hospitalized in our institution from January 1999 to October 2001. The mean age of all patients was 60.8 years old and the male-to-female ratio was 2.

Elevated levels of circulating adhesion molecules in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis.

Objective: Recent studies have indicated the importance of cell adhesion molecules in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory lung diseases. Our study was designed to determine whether five soluble adhesion molecules including soluble L-, E- and P-selectin (sL-, sE- and sP-selectin), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) in serum reflect the severity of active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), and whether there is a distinct profile of these soluble molecules in this disease.

Methodology: Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, we measured the serum levels of these five soluble adhesion molecules in 31 patients with active TB and 11 healthy volunteers.

[A case of mixed infection by Nocardia asteroides and Mycobacterium tuberculosis].

A 55-year-old man with diabetes mellitus was admitted to our hospital because of abnormal shadows in his chest radiographs. Both chest radiography and CT revealed infiltrative shadows in the right upper lung field. Repeated sputum smears showed no mycobacterium, so bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed bronchoscopically at the right B3b.