Role of surgical lung biopsy in separating chronic hypersensitivity pneumonia from usual interstitial pneumonia/idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: analysis of 31 biopsies from 15 patients.

Background: Lung biopsy has been proposed as a criterion for diagnosis of chronic hypersensitivity pneumonia (HP), especially in patients without proven antigen exposure. Histologic findings in some suspected HP patients overlap with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) and nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP). We reviewed our experience to determine the specificity of histologic findings in surgical lung biopsies from patients with clinical diagnoses of HP.

Profusion of fibroblast foci in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis does not predict outcome.

Rationale: The prognostic significance of fibroblast foci in surgical lung biopsies from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is unclear.

Objectives: We assessed the relationship between profusion of fibroblast foci and survival in 43 patients with IPF seen at a tertiary referral medical center from 1996 to 2002.

Methods: Fibroblast foci in surgical lung biopsies were counted using a systematic morphometric point-counting technique.

Snoring as a risk factor for sexual dysfunction in community men.

Introduction: Severe obstructive sleep apnea has been associated with sexual dysfunction; however, it is unclear whether milder forms of sleep disturbances might also be associated with sexual problems.

Aim: To evaluate the association between snoring and five measures of sexual dysfunction in a population-based sample of men.

Methods: A stratified random sample of men residing in Olmsted County, Minnesota completed a questionnaire containing questions from the Brief Male Sexual Function Inventory (BMSFI) and a sleep questionnaire.

Causes and presenting features in 85 consecutive patients with hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Objective: To assess the current spectrum of causes and clinical features associated with hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP).

Patients And Methods: We studied consecutive patients with HP diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, from January 1, 1997, through December 31, 2002. Diagnostic criteria for HP included the following: (1) presence of respiratory symptoms, (2) radiologic evidence of diffuse lung disease, (3) known exposure or a positive serologic test result to an inciting antigen, and (4) no other identifiable cause for the lung disease.

CT findings of granulomatous pneumonitis secondary to Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare inhalation: "hot tub lung".

Objective: The objective of our study was to describe the CT features of "hot tub lung" caused by exposure to Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) organisms in contaminated water.

Materials And Methods: Chart review was performed to identify all patients with a histologic diagnosis of granulomatous pneumonitis and positive cultures for MAC between January 1, 1995, and July 1, 2004. Individuals identified who also had a hot tub were included in the study.

Complex sleep apnea syndrome: is it a unique clinical syndrome?

Study Objectives: Some patients with apparent obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) have elimination of obstructive events but emergence of problematic central apneas or Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern. Patients with this sleep-disordered breathing problem, which for the sake of study we call the "complex sleep apnea syndrome," are not well characterized. We sought to determine the prevalence of complex sleep apnea syndrome and hypothesized that the clinical characteristics of patients with complex sleep apnea syndrome would more nearly resemble those of patients with central sleep apnea syndrome (CSA) than with those of patients with OSAHS.

Hot tub lung: presenting features and clinical course of 21 patients.

Background: Hot tub lung is an emerging lung disorder associated with exposure to Mycobacterium avium complex organisms contaminating hot tub water.

Objectives: To define the clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with hot tub lung.

Methods: Retrospective review of 21 patients diagnosed with hot tub lung at a tertiary medical center over a 7-year period.

Cough-induced rib fractures.

Objectives: To define the demographic, clinical, and radiological features of patients with cough-induced rib fractures and to assess potential risk factors.

Patients And Methods: For this retrospective, single-center study, we identified all cases of cough-induced rib fractures diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, over a 9-year period between January 1, 1996, and January 31, 2005. Bone densitometry data from patients' medical records were analyzed, and T scores were used to classify patients into bone density categories.

Dual coronary emboli in peripartum cardiomyopathy.

Coronary emboli are rare but devastating events. We present the case of a 31-year-old woman with peripartum cardiomyopathy and mural thrombus. She was admitted with an acute, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction.

Accuracy of the triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio for prediction of the low-density lipoprotein phenotype B.

This study examined the accuracy of a triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio of 3.8 for the prediction of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) phenotype B. The ratio of 3.