Monocytes predict prognosis and successful treatment in older patients with miliary tuberculosis.

Background: The increasing number of patients with miliary tuberculosis (MTB) is a concern in an aging society because of its high mortality rate. Several prognostic biomarkers for MTB have been identified; however, the predictive ability of monocytes as biomarkers remains unknown. This study demonstrates the usefulness of monocytes as prognostic biomarkers for MTB.

Clinical Impact of Pre-Existing Autoantibodies in Patients With SCLC Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor: A Multicenter Prospective Observational Study.

Introduction: Although pretreatment autoantibodies have been associated with immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment efficacy in some types of cancer, their importance has not been evaluated in patients with SCLC.

Methods: A multicenter prospective observational study was conducted on a total of 52 patients with extensive-disease SCLC who received immune checkpoint inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy as the first-line treatment at either of the six participating centers in Japan. Pretreatment serum samples were collected and analyzed for autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibodies, and antithyroid).

Combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema: effect of pulmonary rehabilitation in comparison with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of short-term comprehensive inpatient pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE), and to compare responses with those of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who underwent an identical programme.

Design: Retrospective analysis of several outcome measures.

Setting: Pulmonary ward at a 358-bed community teaching hospital.

Association of hyperglycemia on admission and during hospitalization with mortality in diabetic patients admitted for pneumonia.

Objective: Information available on the clinical features and outcomes of pneumonia in diabetic patients is limited. There are no data on the association between glycemic control during hospitalization and mortality in this population. The objective of this study is to examine whether the presence of hyperglycemia on admission and during hospitalization is associated with mortality in diabetic patients admitted to the hospital for pneumonia.

AP-VAS 2012 case report: anti-glomerular basement membrane disease with high titer of myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-an autopsy case report.

It has been reported that patients who are positive for both myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (MPO-ANCA) and anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibody have a poor prognosis. We present an autopsy case of anti-GBM disease with a high titer of MPO-ANCA. The patient was a 77-year-old woman with a medical history of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia.

[Three autopsy cases of chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis].

Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis (CNPA), also called semi-invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, was first described in the early 1980s as a distinct type of pulmonary aspergillosis. CNPA was an indolent, cavitary, infectious process of the lung parenchyma secondary to local invasion by Aspergillus species. Diagnosis is confirmed by pathological evidence of lung tissue invasion by the fungus.

Gefitinib for a poor performance status patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung harboring EGFR mutation.

Recent reports have shown gefitinib, epidermal growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) induced marked improvement in ECOG performance status (PS) as first-line therapy in EGFR mutation-positive patients with extremely poor PS. EGFR mutations frequently occur in east-Asian, female, non-smoking, adenocarcinoma patients, however they are occasionally detected in patients with non-adenocarcinomas or with a heavy smoking history. We describe a case in which EGFR mutation was detected in a male, current smoker, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patient with PS 4, who showed a marked response to the first-line gefitinib therapy.

[An open, noncomparative multicenter study of the efficacy and safety of itraconazole injections and high dose capsules in chronic pulmonary aspergillosis].

Background: Itraconazole (ITCZ) is a novel triazole antifungal with a broad spectrum including Aspergillus species. We conducted a three-month open, noncomparative multicenter study of the efficacy and safety of ITCZ injections and high dose capsules in chronic pulmonary aspergillosis.

Methods: Patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis received intravenous injection of ITCZ (200mg) (twice a day for the first two days, then once a day for the following 3-12 days) prior to the oral administration of ITCZ capsules (200mg) twice a day.

Amrubicin at a lower-dose with routine prophylactic use of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor for relapsed small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Recent reports have suggested the efficacy of amrubicin (AMR) for relapsed small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). However, doses of AMR in these reports were 40 mg/m(2) or 45 mg/m(2), and severe and frequent myelosuppression were observed. Such side effects are occasionally intolerable, as serious myelosuppression may induce fatal infections.

Therapeutic effect of direct hemoperfusion with a polymyxin B-immobilized fiber column in the treatment of HIV-negative severe pneumocystis pneumonia.

Background: Direct hemoperfusion with a polymyxin B-immobilized fiber column (PMX-DHP) has been shown to improve oxygenation in cases of diffuse alveolar damage, but little is known about its effectiveness in treating pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in HIV-negative immunosuppressed patients.

Objectives: This study was aimed at investigating the effect of PMX-DHP in treating non-HIV-related PCP.

Methods: Between October 2005 and September 2008, 6 patients with non-HIV-related PCP were treated with 2 sessions of PMX-DHP at an attending physician's discretion when severe hypoxemia developed despite conventional treatments including high-dose corticosteroid, whereas 9 patients in a similar condition were treated without PMX-DHP.

[Case of rapidly progressing primary pulmonary rhabdomyosarcoma with bloody pleural effusion].

A 64-year-old man, complaining of dyspnea from the beginning of May 2006, was admitted to a local hospital because of bloody pleural effusion. After a drainage procedure of the right thoracic cavity was performed, he was referred to our hospital on May 15. Approximately one liter of bloody pleural effusion was drained every day.

[Two cases of effective S-1 monotherapy for patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung after multiple previous chemotherapies].

Case one was a 76-year-old woman. She was diagnosed as having lung adenocarcinoma with multiple metastases (cT4N0M1, stage IV, mucinous BAC)in June, 2004. Starting in July, 2004, she received various modalities of chemotherapy( cisplatin+vinorelbine, gefitinib, pemetrexed, gemcitabine, docetaxel, paclitaxel).

[A case of cavitating pneumococcal pneumonia developed during the treatment with etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis].

A 54-year-old woman who had been treated for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with the anti-TNF-alpha drug, etanercept, was referred to our department on 27 April 2006 because of dyspnea and shock. Chest X-ray and computed tomography on admission indicated bilateral pneumonia which was proved to be caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae with positive blood culture results. The patient had recovered from multiple organ failure with intensive treatments such as NIPPV and cardiovascular support with cathecolamines, however, the left upper lobe of her lung had developed a large cavity that had been producing viable pneumococci on sputum culture for more than one month.