Archivos de bronconeumología
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Oxygen therapy by transtracheal catheter (TTC), as described by Heimlich in 1982, was originally conceived to conserve oxygen but later proved to be truly useful as a treatment for chronic respiratory insufficiency, although the technique is little used in Spain. We conducted a one-year long prospective study of 10 patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency in whom a TTC was placed for ambulatory oxygen therapy. Complications appearing were bloody expectoration (100%), granulomas at the site of incision (20%) and accidental extubation (10%). ⋯ The hematocrit was 45.6 +/- 10.22 before TTC placement and 43.4 +/- 3.02 (NS) after one year. Changes in PO2, FVC and FEV1 were not statistically significant. No problems derived from TTC or liquid oxygen management.
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Arch. Bronconeumol. · Jan 1996
[Abdominal respiratory muscle activity in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].
With the purpose of defining the pattern of abdominal respiratory muscle activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we studied the electromyogram of the rectus abdominis (RA), the external oblique (EO) and transversus (TM) muscles in 14 patients with different degrees of airways obstruction (FEV1: 41 +/- 12%; FEV1/FVC: 45 +/- 10%; RV: 198 +/- 38%; PaO2: 75.8 +/- 12 y PaCO2: 41.4 +/- 5.7 mmHg). The EMG was obtained by insertion of bipolar electrodes guided by an ultrasound image of the abdominal wall to locate the position of the muscles. The measurements were recorded in supine decubitus position in 5 situations: a) breathing at tidal volume; b) slow expiration until RV; c) with inspiratory load; d) with expiratory load, and e) during relaxed breathing with the arms raised. ⋯ The phasic activity pattern recorded when patients were sitting was very similar to that obtained in supine position. In summary, some patients with stable COPD have phasic expiratory activity of the abdominal muscles when resting. These muscles do not appear to act as a unit and this phasic expiratory activity is related to severity of upper airways obstruction.
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Arch. Bronconeumol. · Dec 1995
Review Case Reports[Localized tracheobronchial amyloidosis. The usefulness of computed tomography].
Tracheobronchial amyloidosis is the most common form of localized bronchopulmonary amyloidoses, although its diagnosis is rare in daily practice. We describe two new cases of localized tracheobronchial amyloidosis, one in the form of a single node and one diffuse. We discuss in particular the contribution of computed axial tomography, mainly for diagnosing the diffuse form, in which a finding of a thickened tracheobronchial wall and intraluminal nodes should lead to the suspicion of this entity. The treatment of choice in most cases is resection with an Nd-YAG laser.
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Two cases of traumatic pulmonary pseudocysts in young patients are presented. Blunt chest injuries resulting from traffic accidents were the causes in both cases. ⋯ In both cases, self-limited hemoptysis preceded the appearance of an air-fluid level on X-rays. The diagnoses of pulmonary pseudocyst were made after excluding other possible cause and the outcomes were satisfactory after treatment of symptoms and associated lesions.