Thorax
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Multicenter Study
Do asbestos-related pleural plaques on HRCT scans cause restrictive impairment in the absence of pulmonary fibrosis?
It is uncertain whether isolated pleural plaques cause functional impairment. ⋯ The results show a relationship between isolated parietal and/or diaphragmatic pleural plaques and a trend towards a restrictive pattern, although the observed decrease in FVC and TLC is unlikely to be of real clinical relevance for the majority of subjects in this series.
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Practice Guideline
Summary of the British Thoracic Society guidelines for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic flexible bronchoscopy in adults.
This new guideline covers the rapidly advancing field of interventional bronchoscopy using flexible bronchoscopy. It includes the use of more complex diagnostic procedures such as endobronchial ultrasound, interventions for the relief of central airway obstruction due to malignancy and the recent development of endobronchial therapies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. ⋯ It also aims to inform respiratory physicians and other specialists dealing with lung cancer of the procedures possible in the management and palliation of central airway obstruction. The guideline covers transbronchial needle aspiration and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration, electrocautery/diathermy, argon plasma coagulation and thermal laser, cryotherapy, cryoextraction, photodynamic therapy, brachytherapy, tracheobronchial stenting, electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy, endobronchial valves for emphysema and bronchial thermoplasty for asthma.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Utility of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in patients with tuberculous intrathoracic lymphadenopathy: a multicentre study.
Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has emerged as an important tool for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer but its role in the diagnosis of tuberculous intrathoracic lymphadenopathy has not been established. The aim of this study was to describe the diagnostic utility of EBUS-TBNA in patients with intrathoracic lymphadenopathy due to tuberculosis (TB). ⋯ EBUS-TBNA is a safe and effective first-line investigation in patients with tuberculous intrathoracic lymphadenopathy.
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The British Thoracic Society first published management guidelines for community acquired pneumonia in children in 2002 and covered available evidence to early 2000. These updated guidelines represent a review of new evidence since then and consensus clinical opinion where evidence was not found. This document incorporates material from the 2002 guidelines and supersedes the previous guideline document.
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Letter
Influence of respiratory variables on the on-line detection of exhaled trace gases by PTR-MS.
Modern gas analysis techniques permit real time and on-line quantification of multiple volatile trace gases within a single exhalation. However, the influence of various respiratory manoeuvres affecting exhalation flow and the kinetics of metabolite release to the gas-phase remain largely unknown. ⋯ These findings demonstrate that respiratory manoeuvres significantly influence the measured concentration of a number of exhaled VOCs that are of potential importance within the clinical setting. Our results support the adoption of standardised practices for breath gas analysis by on-line and real time mass spectrometry methods.