Advances in respiratory medicine
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Acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) is characterized by an acute onset respiratory illness with bilateral chest infiltrates and evidence of pulmonary eosinophilia. Cigarette smoking is the main risk factor, but drugs and other inhalational exposures have also been reported. Herein, the association between AEP and smoking devices other than cigarettes is reviewed The PubMed database was searched using terms such as "smoking", "vaping", "e-cigarette", "waterpipe", and "marijuana", along with other commonly used synonyms for these terms. ⋯ Five patients (41.6%) required invasive mechanical ventilation and ten patients (83.3%) were treated in an intensive care unit. All patients responded to corticosteroid therapy with no relapses reported. Acute eosinophilic pneumonia is reported with smoking that does not include traditional cigarette smoking such as waterpipes, e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn cigarettes, and marijuana and can have asimilar presentation and clinical course.
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Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMT) of the lung, first reported in 1939, are considered a subset of inflammatory pseudo -tumors. They are a distinctive lesions composed of myofibroblastic spindle cells accompanied by an inflammatory infiltrate of plasma cells, lymphocytes, and eosinophils. IMTs may be benign, invade surrounding structures, undergo malignant transformation, recur or may even metastasize. ⋯ Patients may be asymptomatic, or present with cough, hemoptysis, dyspnea, pleuritic pain, constitutional symptoms or pneumonia. In this article we review the pathophysiology, genetics, clinical presentation, imaging findings of IMT of the lung. We also discuss the various surgical and non-surgical treatment options and the prognosis associated with this disease.
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Castleman's disease is a rare benign lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. The disease occurs in two clinical forms with different prognoses, treatments and symptoms: a unicentric form (UCD), which is solitary, localized, and a multicentric form characterized by generalized lymphadenopathy and systemic symptoms. This article aims to review the current literature to consolidate the evidence surrounding the curative potential of surgical treatment to the unicentric type. ⋯ We conclude that surgical resection appears to be the most effective treatment for Unicentric Castleman's Disease of the thoracic cavity. Radiotherapy can also achieve clinical response and cure in selected patients.
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Castleman's disease is a rare benign lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. The disease occurs in two clinical forms with different prognoses, treatments and symptoms: a unicentric form (UCD), which is solitary, localized, and a multicentric form characterized by generalized lymphadenopathy and systemic symptoms. This article aims to review the current literature to consolidate the evidence surrounding the curative potential of surgical treatment to the unicentric type. ⋯ We conclude that surgical resection appears to be the most effective treatment for Unicentric Castleman's Disease of the thoracic cavity. Radiotherapy can also achieve clinical response and cure in selected patients.
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Review
IPF and CPFE - the two different entities or two different presentations of the same disease?
In this article the co-existence of pulmonary emphysema with lung fibrosis of typical pattern and distribution for usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) was compared with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) alone. Author discusses the etiopathogenesis of these diseases, differences in signaling pathways and the role of senescent cells. Moreover, clinical course, pulmonary function tests as well as main complications are reviewed. However, the lack of well-established diagnostic criteria for CPFE along with mainly retrospective character of the studies make current knowledge about this entity rather deficient.