Pulmonary function and complications following chemotherapy and stem cell support in breast cancer.

Pulmonary complications are frequent in patients treated with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation for breast cancer or other solid tumours. This study analyses the development of lung toxicity, changes in respiratory function and occurrence of clinical symptoms in a group of 24 patients (mean age 46+/-7 yrs) who underwent high-dose sequential chemotherapy (HDS) with autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) support for high risk breast cancer. Clinical examination, chest radiography and lung function tests were performed before the HDS and 1 and 3 months following transplantation.

Increased sympathetic tone in the left arm of patients affected by symptomatic myocardial ischemia.

Six of 60 consecutive patients (10%) affected by symptomatic myocardial infarction complained of positive sensory disturbances at the left arm, consisting of more or less painful burning sensation, heaviness, pins and needles. The sympathetic tone checked by means of fingertips photoplethismography showed a reduction in the maximal amplitude as well as in the amplitude of the wave measured at the 50% of its descending time in the left arm, as an expression of a local increase in the sympathetic tone. The need for an early diagnosis and therapy to prevent a clear sympathetic algodystrophy is stressed.