Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases
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Comparative Study
Determinants of the length of mechanical ventilation in patients with COPD in the intensive care unit.
About 10% of the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at high risk for prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV >21 days), and mortality ranges from 55 to 78% in these patients. ⋯ Advanced age, severity of disease on admission and development of VAP during ICU stay are the main determinants of MV duration in patients with COPD.
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Case Reports
Pulmonary malakoplakia coexistent with tuberculosis of the hilar lymph node mimicking malignancy.
Pulmonary malakoplakia is a disease that is difficult to diagnose because its symptoms vary from those mimicking bronchogenic carcinoma to pneumonitis-like tuberculous infections. Malakoplakia is an unusual inflammatory condition characterized by the accumulation of macrophages with diagnostic Michaelis-Gutmann bodies. ⋯ Microbiologic cultures were positive for acid-fast positive bacilli from the hilar node specimen, and negative for any other microorganisms such as Rhodococcus equi, but positive for Escherichia coli from the lung specimen. The significance of these findings and the coincidental association between malakoplakia and tuberculosis are discussed.