Chest
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The prevalence of lung conditions, such as COPD and pulmonary fibrosis, and lung infections, such as pneumonia, increases sharply with age. The physiologic, cellular, and immunologic changes that occur during aging contribute to the development of lung disease. ⋯ Individuals with good lung function live longer, healthier lives, although the mechanisms by which this scenario occurs are not understood. The present article reviews changes in the aging lung that facilitate development of disease and the evidence supporting the idea that robust lung function reduces the risk of developing chronic inflammatory conditions that occur with age.
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Case Reports
A 51-Year-Old Man With Unresolved Pulmonary Infiltrates Following Streptococcus pneumoniae Pneumonia.
A 51-year-old man presented to the clinic 8 weeks after a 6-day hospital admission for severe multilobar pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. His productive cough resolved after antibiotics, but he reported persistent dyspnea. He recounted a lifelong history of recurrent sinusitis but no previous episodes of pneumonia. ⋯ He worked as an upholstery craftsman with no work-related exposures. He had no bird or exotic animal exposures, and no history of travel outside Sacramento, California, where he lived. Aside from the recently completed 2-week course of levofloxacin, he was not taking any medications.
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VTE has emerged as a major public health problem. However, data on VTE burden in China are seldom reported. ⋯ The hospitalization rates of VTE increased steadily, and the mortality declined. This study provides important information on the disease burden of VTE in China.
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A 27-year-old Lebanese man was admitted to our department for multiple pulmonary lesions. The patient had reported persistent fever, cough, shortness of breath, and weight loss since his return from Lebanon 6 weeks earlier. He had been diagnosed with a severe form of Behçet disease 4 years ago, for which the ongoing treatment was a corticosteroid therapy associated with methotrexate and infliximab.
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A 58-year-old postmenopausal woman presented to her primary care physician with lower back pain. She denied respiratory symptoms. ⋯ She denied a history of smoking, alcohol use, or recreational drug use. A review of systems was otherwise negative.