Chest
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Ophiolites, a special sequence of geologic rock units, are known sources of naturally occurring asbestos. The aim of this study was to test whether the occurrence of malignant mesothelioma (MM) or pleural plaques (PPs) in the province of Sivas, Turkey, is determined by the proximity of the patient's birthplace to ophiolites and, if so, to establish the magnitude of the risk. ⋯ In this area without substantial industrial asbestos use, there is an association between the occurrence of mesothelioma (and of PPs) and the proximity of the subject's birthplace to ophiolites.
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Studies have shown that for the same quantity of cigarettes smoked, women are more likely to develop heart disease than men, but studies in lung cancer have produced conflicting results. We studied the association between smoking quantity and lung cancer in men and women. ⋯ Moderate and heavy smoking carry a higher risk of lung cancer in women than in men, and this difference does not seem to be explained by lung volume. The findings suggest that extrapolating risk estimates for lung cancer in men to women will underestimate the adverse impact of smoking in women.
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Protracted bacterial bronchitis is a major cause of persistent cough in childhood. The organisms most commonly isolated are nontypable Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae . There are no studies addressing typing of these organisms when recovered from the lower airways. ⋯ The data suggest that both vaccine and nonvaccine S pneumoniae serotypes may play a role in protracted bacterial bronchitis and provide some hints that serotype replacement may occur in response to the introduction of conjugate vaccines.
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Elevated fractional excretion of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) reflects airway inflammation, but few studies have established its normal values. This study aims to establish the normal values and thresholds for the clinical interpretation of FENO in the US general population. ⋯ Assuming 95% of the healthy US general population had no clinically significant airway inflammation as assessed by FENO, values exceeding the 95th percentiles indicated abnormality and a high risk of airway inflammation. A large variation of normal FENO values existed in the general population, which was poorly predicted by multiple linear regression models.
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Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) continues to have a poor prognosis, with a 2-year survival of < 20%. Studies have suggested that SCLC may affect the immune system to allow it to evade immunologic responses. We hypothesized that any such effect would be characterized by a decrease in the lymphoid cells associated with the tumor in biopsy specimens and that this might relate to patient outcome. ⋯ The data indicate that (1) simple immunohistochemical assessment of immune cell infiltrates in routinely processed and stained biopsy specimens of primary tumors can provide prognostic information in SCLC and (2) tumor-associated CD45(+) cells in SCLC biopsy specimens may be a good clinical marker to identify patients with poor prognosis despite good PS.