Chest
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Meta Analysis
Improving Cancer Probability Estimation in Non-Diagnostic Bronchoscopies: A meta-analysis.
In patients with peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs), nondiagnostic bronchoscopy results are not uncommon. The conventional approach to estimate the probability of cancer (pCA) after bronchoscopy relies on dichotomous test assumptions, using prevalence, sensitivity, and specificity to determine negative predictive value. However, bronchoscopy is a multidisease test, raising concerns about the accuracy of dichotomous methods. ⋯ Conventional dichotomous methods for estimating pCA after nondiagnostic bronchoscopies underestimate the likelihood of malignancy. Physicians should opt for the multidisease test approach when interpreting bronchoscopy results.
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A 36-year-old man with severe Crohn disease complicated by urethral strictures and enterocutaneous and enterovesicular fistulas presented for several weeks of poor appetite, weight loss, failure to thrive, and newly worsening altered mentation. Further history revealed he chronically did not urinate through his urethra, but rather "leaked" through multiple enterocutaneous fistulas in his abdomen and perineum. ⋯ He had had multiple surgeries because of fistulas related to his Crohn disease, which included subtotal colectomy with ileostomy creation, proctectomy, and ischiorectal flap creation. He drank 10-15 ounces of liquor per week, smoked 10 cigarettes daily, and smoked marijuana weekly.
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An 80-year-old man with no history of substance addiction presented with complaints of cough and breathlessness for 4 months. His cough was nonproductive, waxing and waning in nature with high symptom load during daytime, but not associated with chest pain or wheezing. He gives no history of nasal or sinus symptoms, aspiration, or reflux symptoms. ⋯ He denies history of atopy, occupational or environmental dust exposure. He refused history of fever, significant loss of weight or appetite. He had been treated for asthma with a combination of a long-acting beta-2 agonist and an inhaled corticosteroid inhaler, which provided no relief.