Respiratory medicine
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Respiratory medicine · Apr 2013
Comparative StudyComparison of changes in lung function measured by plethymography and IOS after bronchoprovocation.
Lung function tests are essential for the diagnosis and management of bronchial asthma. Impulse oscillation (IOS) system is an alternative way to measure lung mechanics for some patients. We investigated the relative sensitivities of IOS, body plethysmography and spirometry in detecting allergen- and methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction. ⋯ Our result shows that IOS is more sensitive than other lung function tests following allergen and methacholine challenge. In addition, IOS can act as an alternative measurement technique of airway resistance and obstruction in patients where manoeuvres involved in plethysmography and spirometry prove difficult to perform.
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Respiratory medicine · Apr 2013
Incidence of myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody positivity and microscopic polyangitis in the course of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Pulmonary fibrosis is a manifestation of microscopic polyangitis (MPA), and often precedes the detection of MPA. The prevalence and sequence of myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (MPO-ANCA) and MPA in patients initially diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have not been precisely elucidated. ⋯ The findings of the present study demonstrated that patients with an initial diagnosis of IPF occasionally acquire MPO-ANCA, which develops to MPA during the disease course of IPF. The presence of pulmonary eosinophilia and low attenuation areas on computed tomography scans might be predictive of MPO-ANCA positive conversion.
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Respiratory medicine · Apr 2013
Amyloid-associated cystic lung disease in primary Sjögren's syndrome.
Cystic lung disease can be seen in patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and is generally thought to be due to lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia. ⋯ We conclude cystic and nodular lung lesions seen in patients with primary SS can represent amyloidosis which can be associated with MALT lymphoma in some of these patients.