Respiratory medicine
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Respiratory medicine · Oct 2002
Comparative StudyComparison of the distances covered during 3 and 6 min walking test.
To determine the reproducibility of the distance covered in 3 min and its correlation with the 6 min walking test, as well as compare the distances covered at different time intervals. Secondly, to evaluate the relationship between the distances covered during these time periods and the maximum oxygen intake obtained during a bicycle ergometer test. ⋯ A learning effect was observed when the walking test is carried out repeatedly over short time periods, with a significant increase in the first 5 walks. Correlation between the distances covered in 3 and 6 min is very good, and acceptable when the distance covered over these periods is compared with oxygen intake and walking speed is constant.
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Respiratory medicine · Oct 2002
Vascular endothelial growth factor and proinflammatory cytokines in pleural effusions.
To evaluate the predictive value of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the differential diagnosis of pleuritis and its association with other proinflammatory cytokines in pleural effusion, we measured VEGF together with interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) in pleural effusions. We investigated 127 patients with pleural effusion (congestive heart failure: 21; parapneumonic: 27; tuberculous: 41; malignant: 38). We examined standard parameters of pleural effusion and measured pleural effusion VEGF, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and sICAM-1 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. ⋯ The sensitivity and specificity of VEGF and TNF-alpha in the diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy (VEGF titer <2000 pg/ml and TNF-alpha titer > 55 pg/ml) was 88.9 and 77.1%, respectively. We propose that measurement of VEGF together with TNF-alpha is helpful in differentiating between tuberculous pleurisy and malignant pleural effusion and that VEGF correlates with proinflammatory cytokines especially in tuberculous pleurisy. We also propose that measurement of pleural VEGF is helpful for the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion.