Rev Pneumol Clin
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
[Evaluation and symptomatic treatment of surinfectious exacerbations of COPD: preliminary study of antibiotic treatment combined with fenspiride (Pneumorel 80mg) versus placebo].
Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an inflammatory component in addition to the possible infectious component. The antiinflammatory properties of fenspiride (Pneumorel(R) 80 mg) should be evaluated in this frequent clinical situation. ⋯ In this preliminary study of patients with COPD presenting a bronchial superinfection, there was a significant improvement in lung auscultation and in the composite clinical score in patients given fenspiride. Fenspiride was thus found to provide an early clinical benefit.
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Comparative Study
[Serum procalcitonin and respiratory tract infections].
The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic value of serum procalcitonine (PCT) assay in adult respiratory infections. Forty-nine patients admitted with pleurisy, community-acquired pneumonia, tuberculosis, infection were included in this prospective study. PCT was assayed on admission and discharge. ⋯ PCT did not correlate with the biological and clinical markers of the disease severity but the evolution of PCT correlated with the evolution of C-reactive-protein (r = 0.58, p < 0.05). PCT seems to be an early marker of the evolution of respiratory infections, but it does not help to establish prognosis. Further studies are necessary to assess the potential value of PCT in more severe respiratory infections requiring assisted ventilation.
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Reexpansion pulmonary edema is an uncommon complication which sometimes occurs after evacuation of a large amount of air or fluid from the pleural space. We report two cases that illustrate the diversity of the clinical expression, severe in one case and latent in the other. The pathophysiology of reexpansion pulmonary edema remains obscure. ⋯ Curative treatment is based on adequate oxygenation and circulation. Lower aspiration pressure and oxygenation were sufficient in our patients. Severe clinical prognosis has been reported in the literature with a 15 to 20% mortality despite use of mechanical ventilation in particularly serious situations.
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The existence of a bronchial foreign body is an unusual cause of haemoptysis. We observed a sixty two year-old women who presented several medium-abundance haemoptysis. They were associated with a systematic alveolar-interstitial radiological picture of the ventral upper right lobe. ⋯ Though most of the breathed foreign bodies are expressed into immediate symptoms, some of them remained undiagnosed and may be responsible for haemoptysis, infectious complications, atelectasis and for bronchiectasis. Their extraction through endoscopy or most often surgery is necessary for a proper recovery. In spite of histopathological differences between foreign bodies, broncholithiasis and lung tumor the diagnosis may be difficult clinically and on radiology.
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Review Comparative Study
[American pulmonary histoplasmosis caused by Histoplasma capsulatum].
American pulmonary histoplasmosis is a deep mycosis imported from North America caused by the inhalation of Histoplasma capsulatum. It is endemic in several countries throughout the world and occasional cases have been reported in France, mainly imported from out lying French territories. The most frequent clinical forms observed in immunocompetent subjects are generally benign or silent and usually limited to a fortuitously discovered pulmonary nodule. ⋯ More often, the epidemiological context, clinical and radiological features, the elimination of differential diagnoses and, retrospectively, serology are sufficient for diagnosis. The clinical course is usually favorable. Itraconazole is the treatment of choice for symptomatic or complicated forms.