American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2010
Loss of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator function produces abnormalities in tracheal development in neonatal pigs and young children.
Although airway abnormalities are common in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), it is unknown whether they are all secondary to postnatal infection and inflammation, which characterize the disease. ⋯ Our findings in newborn CF pigs and young patients with CF suggest that airway changes begin during fetal life and may contribute to CF pathogenesis and clinical disease during postnatal life.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2010
Hereditary pulmonary alveolar proteinosis: pathogenesis, presentation, diagnosis, and therapy.
We identified a 6-year-old girl with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), impaired granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) receptor function, and increased GM-CSF. ⋯ CSF2RA mutations cause a genetic form of PAP presenting as insidious, progressive dyspnea in children that can be diagnosed by a combination of characteristic radiologic findings and blood tests and treated successfully by whole-lung lavage.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2010
Review Meta AnalysisAn official American Thoracic Society systematic review: insurance status and disparities in lung cancer practices and outcomes.
Insurance coverage is an important determinant of access to care and is one potential cause of disparities in lung cancer care outcomes. ⋯ Patients with Medicaid or no insurance consistently had worse outcomes than other patients with lung cancer. Some of the disparities may be secondary to residual confounding from smoking and other health behaviors, but available data suggest that patients with lung cancer without insurance do poorly because access to care is limited and/or they present with more advanced disease that is less amenable to treatment.