Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases
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Comparative Study
Comparison of 8-isoprostane and interleukin-8 in induced sputum and exhaled breath condensate from asymptomatic and symptomatic smokers.
Markers of airway inflammation and oxidative stress have been mainly investigated in moderate/severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or during its exacerbation. They have not been compared in noninvasive specimens such as exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and induced sputum in healthy nonsymptomatic smokers or in those who have symptoms and are at risk for COPD development. ⋯ The levels of both potential markers were clearly higher in the induced sputum than in EBC. The results point to an advantage of induced sputum over EBC for assessing the degree of airway oxidative stress and inflammation in smokers with a potential risk for COPD development.
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Specimens from transbronchial lung biopsies lack sufficient quality due to crush artifact and are generally too small for diagnosis of diffuse lung diseases. Flexible cryoprobes have been shown to be useful in therapeutic bronchoscopy. We introduce a novel technique for obtaining lung biopsies bronchoscopically, using a flexible cryoprobe. ⋯ Transbronchial cryobiopsy is a novel technique which allows to obtain large biopsy samples of lung parenchyma that exceed the size and quality of forceps biopsy samples. Prospective trials are needed to compare this technique with surgical lung biopsy for diagnosis of diffuse lung diseases.
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Dyspnea is prevalent and has a broad differential diagnosis. Difficulty in determining the correct etiology can delay proper treatment. Non-invasively obtained acoustic signals may offer benefit in identifying patients with dyspnea due to obstructive airway disease (OAD). ⋯ This modality was useful in identifying patients whose dyspnea was due to OAD. The ability to objectively and non-invasively measure these differences may prove clinically useful in distinguishing the operant physiology in patients presenting with acute dyspnea.
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Primary Sjögren's syndrome (PSS) is associated with various histological patterns of interstitial lung disease. Although chest images and lung function studies showed that lung involvement predominantly occurs in small airways, pathological findings were not consistent with the results of high-resolution CT (HRCT) and lung function tests. ⋯ The histopathologic patterns of PSS-ILD included lung interstitial involvement and small airway involvement or both. Corticosteroid therapy combined with cyclophosphamide was administered with a favorable response in the majority of patients.
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There is more than one mechanism which contributes to the increases in upper airway resistance in obstructive sleep apnea and hypopnea syndrome. Impulse oscillation provides a convenient way of noninvasive monitoring and differentiating the contributions of airway resistance. ⋯ The magnitude of change in airway resistance due to posture is bigger in OSAHS than in non-OSAHS. Zrs, R5 and R20 in supine position were associated moderately with apnea/hypopnea index.