Lung India : official organ of Indian Chest Society
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Lower respiratory tract infection is one of the common causes of morbidity in India which is occasionally undiagnosed. In this regard tracheobronchomegaly is one of those conditions which masquerade as chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis and are usually undiagnosed. It is a well-defined clinical and radiologic entity characterized by marked dilatation of the trachea and the central bronchi and is frequently associated with recurrent lower respiratory tract infection. Tracheobronchomegaly has been described by a variety of names, including Mounier-Kuhn syndrome, tracheal diverticulosis, tracheobronchiectasis, tracheocele, tracheomalacia, and tracheobronchopathia malacia.
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Limited data is available on the clinical expression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from India. The impact of gender on expression of COPD has received even less attention. Apart from tobacco smoke, indoor air pollution, especially from biomass fuel may play an important role in development of COPD in women. ⋯ The current study shows that gender-related differences do exist in COPD patients. Understanding these differences in etiological agent and clinical picture will help early diagnosis of COPD in females.
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Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a rare but serious complication of blood transfusion. We present a suspected case of TRALI in a 39-year-old female patient who underwent total abdominal hysterectomy under uneventful general anesthesia. The patient developed acute desaturation due to noncardiogenic pulmonary edema while receiving compatible blood transfusion on the second postoperative day. ⋯ By exclusion, a clinical diagnosis of TRALI was made. The treatment for TRALI requires discontinuing transfusion and giving respiratory and cardiovascular support. Most cases show clinical improvement in first few hours and resolve completely within 96 h.
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To systematically review the role of corticosteroids in prevention of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in high-risk patients, and in treatment of established ARDS. Primary articles were identified by English-language Pubmed/MEDLINE, Cochrane central register of controlled trials, and Cochrane systemic review database search (1960-June 2009) using the MeSH headings: ARDS, adult respiratory distress syndrome, ARDS, corticosteroids, and methylprednisolone (MP). The identified studies were reviewed and information regarding role of corticosteroids in prevention and treatment of ARDS was evaluated. ⋯ Use of corticosteroids in patients with early ARDS showed equivocal results in decreasing mortality; however, there is evidence that these drugs reduce organ dysfunction score, lung injury score, ventilator requirement, and intensive care unit stay. However, most of these trials are small, having a significant heterogeneity regarding study design, etiology of ARDS, and dosage of corticosteroids. Further research involving large-scale trials on relatively homogeneous cohort is necessary to establish the role of corticosteroids for this condition.
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We present a case of severe H1N1 influenza with hypoxemic acute respiratory failure necessitating mechanical ventilation benefited from noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV). The NIPPV may be of great use in treating patients with H1N1-related acute respiratory distress syndrome in a resource poor setting or when invasive ventilator is unavailable.