Endoscopic drainage of an infected giant bulla.

A 42-year-old man was hospitalized because of an infectious giant bulla. The infected giant bulla did not improve by the administration of antibiotics. Some infectious bullae were considered to be difficult to allow for simple cutaneous drainage, so endoscopic drainage was performed to remove the infection.

Pulmonary artery perforation by a tube thoracostomy.

A 74-year-old woman was hospitalized in another institution because of a left-sided empyema and bronchopneumonia. A trocar-type chest tube was inserted. Upon withdrawal of the trocar, blood was seen flowing from the draining system and she developed hypotension.

Hernia of the diaphragm with gastric ulcer and volvulus: an unusual complication after diaphragmatic resection by VATS.

We present a 45-year-old female patient who developed diaphragmatic rupture and secondary hernia following a diaphragmatic resection for a diaphragmatic abnormality with spontaneous pneumothorax performed by endoscopic stapling in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). This complication can be avoided by careful direct repair of the diaphragmatic incision in addition to endoscopic stapling.

Closure of a bronchopleural fistula using a fibrin-glue coated collagen patch.

Bronchopleural fistulas can occur as a life-threatening sequelae after pulmonary resection. Two bronchopleural fistulas more than 3 mm in diameter were successfully treated by using a fibrin-glue coated collagen patch at the site of bronchopleural fistula under flexible bronchoscopic observation. This is the first report of the bronchoscopic closure of bronchopleural fistulas by using a fibrin-glue coated collagen patch.

Dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the pleura: report of a case.

We report a case of dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the pleura in a 59-year-old man who presented with pain in the right chest wall, 3 years after a routine chest X-ray showed a large tumorous mass. The resected tumor was composed of three distinct histological features: well-differentiated liposarcoma with low-grade leiomyosarcomatous and low-grade osteosarcomatous components. To our knowledge, this is the first report of dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the pleura.

Life-threatening stridor due to membranous tracheitis as a rare complication of endotracheal intubation: report of a case.

This report describes a rare case of acute life-threatening stridor due to membranous tracheitis that occurred as a complication of endotracheal intubation, performed for video-assisted thoracotomy. An obstructive fibrin clot was found in the subglottic region by bronchofiberscopy, and removal provided complete relief of the airway obstruction. The mechanism of the development of this fibrin membrane may have interacted with local tracheal trauma from the endotracheal tube.

Favorable results of early diagnosis by cervicothoracic computed tomography scans for descending necrotizing mediastinitis.

Objectives: We studied results of early diagnosis by cervicothoracic computed tomography and early aggressive surgery for descending necrotizing mediastinitis.

Methods: Between 1990 and 1999, 5 patients with descending necrotizing mediastinitis were surgically treated in our institute. Computed tomography scans confirmed mediastinitis in all cases, even though chest x-ray films demonstrated a widening mediastial shadow in only 2.

An uncommon case of simultaneous malignant tumors: bronchioloalveolar cancer and Ewing's sarcoma in a 17-year-old girl: report of a case.

This report describes a 17-year-old girl with a simultaneous occurrence of bronchioloalveolar cancer and Ewing's sarcoma of the femur, which is a previously unreported association. This case emphasizes the existence of multiple primary malignant neoplasms even in adolescents. Primary lung cancer should therefore be considered in patients under 19 years of age who present with abnormal pulmonary lesions.

Massive haemoptysis due to chronic pancreatitis: control with inferior phrenic artery embolization.

Massive haemoptysis is a rare complication of chronic pancreatitis. We describe a patient with massive haemoptysis due to chronic pancreatitis who was treated successfully by means of selective inferior phrenic artery embolization.

[Evaluation of a new method for antifungal drugs susceptibility testing to yeasts].

We compared the Etest with a broth microdilution method (FP panel), performed according to the National Committee for modified Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) document M27-P guidelines, for determining the MICs of 81 clinical isolates of yeasts (7 Candida albicans, 8 Candida glabrata, 10 Candida parapsilosis, 6 Pichia anomala, 10 Candida tropicalis, 4 Candida guilliermondii, 4 Candida krusei, 6 Trichosporon cutaneum, 5 Candida ciferrii, 3 Candida famata, 4 Candida norvegensis, 2 Rhodotorula rubra, 3 Candida lusitaniae, 2 Candida curvata, 1 Candida inconspicua, 1 Candida intermedia, 1 Candida colliculosa, 1 Cryptococcus spp, 1 Tricosporon capitatum, 1 Pichia ohmeri, 1 Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The Etest results for 6 ATCC standard strains correlated well with reference MICs except those of flucytosine (5-FC) for C. krusei, which tended to be 1 to 2 log2 dilution higher than the MIC range determined by NCCLS guidelines.

Effective inhibition of Candida albicans growth by the combination of murine peritoneal neutrophils and activated macrophages.

The effect of leukocytes on the anti-Candida activity of neutrophils was examined. Murine neutrophils which were purified from casein-induced peritoneal cells inhibited the mycelial growth of Candida albicans. This anti-Candida activity of neutrophils was augmented by the addition of spleen cells prepared from mice pretreated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide 3 hr before, but not from non-treated mice.

The use of transbronchial lung biopsy to establish a diagnosis of benign clear cell tumor of the lung: report of a case.

Benign clear cell tumor (BCCT) is an extremely rare pulmonary neoplasm. We report herein a case of BCCT of the lung that was diagnosed by a transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB). The findings of hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemistry obtained by the TBLB were consistent with a diagnosis of BCCT of the lung.

Long-term survival after repeated resections of Askin tumor recurrences.

The case of a 16-year-old boy is reported who underwent surgery for the excision of an Askin tumor and has subsequently undergone six excisions of local Askin tumor recurrences, with follow-up postoperative chemo- and radiotherapy over a 7-year period. The patient continues to survive. As far as can be determined, this patient appears to be the first reported case of long-term survival after repeated resections of local Askin tumor recurrences.

Pharmacological study of stem-cell-factor-induced mast cell histamine release with kinase inhibitors.

Stem cell factor (SCF) is a ligand for c-kit receptor and has a critical role in the development of mast cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of a panel of kinase inhibitors on SCF-induced histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells. Genistein, an inhibitor of tyrosine kinases, inhibited SCF-induced histamine release with IC50 of 1.

Prevention of diabetes by thymic hormone in alloxan-treated rats.

We investigated the effects of facteur thymique sérique (FTS), a thymic peptide hormone, on alloxan- and streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. Pretreatment with intravenous injection of FTS significantly suppressed both alloxan- and streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemia. The effects of FTS were time dependent.

[Overview on synthetic steroid hormone-chemistry and definition].

Synthetic steroids are reviewed in terms on "synthetic", "steroid" and hormone. Natural steroids are also synthesized but, are not included in this review, because "synthetic" is rather well defined by the term "not natural". A short history of development of "not natural" steroids are described for the better understanding.