Thorax
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Randomised controlled trial of intrapleural streptokinase in community acquired pleural infection.
Standard treatment for pleural infection includes catheter drainage and antibiotics. Tube drainage often fails if the fluid is loculated by fibrinous adhesions when surgical drainage is needed. Streptokinase may aid the process of pleural drainage, but there have been no controlled trials to assess its efficacy. ⋯ Intrapleural streptokinase probably aids the treatment of pleural infections by improving pleural drainage without causing systemic fibrinolysis or local haemorrhage.
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Comparative Study
Relative production of tumour necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 10 in adult respiratory distress syndrome.
The adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) may be regarded as an example of an uncontrolled or excessive inflammatory response in which tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) has been proposed to play a central role. Interleukin 10 (IL-10) has been identified as an important regulator of this response. The potential role for IL-10 in this context was investigated by measuring the relative production of IL-10 and TNF-alpha protein in the plasma, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and alveolar macrophage culture supernatants of patients with, or at risk of developing, ARDS. ⋯ This study highlights the potential importance of the pro-inflammatory versus the anti-inflammatory imbalance in ARDS which may be reflected by the ratio of IL-10 and TNF-alpha in the lung.
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Comparative Study
Lymph node staging in non-small cell lung cancer: evaluation by [18F]FDG positron emission tomography (PET).
A study was undertaken to investigate the accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) in the thoracic lymph node staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ⋯ FDG-PET provides a new and effective method for staging thoracic lymph nodes in patients with lung cancer and is superior to CT scanning in the assessment of hilar and mediastinal nodal metastases. With regard to resectability, FDG-PET could differentiate reliably between patients with N1/N2 disease and those with unresectable N3 disease.