Kronična opstruktivna plućna bolest (KOPB) jedna je od najčešćih bolesti i vodećih uzroka smrtnosti u svijetu. Karakterizirana je progresivnom opstrukcijom dišnih putova i pogoršanjima epizoda akutne ...egzacerbacije. Egzacerbacija podrazumijeva pogoršanje bolesnikovih simptoma i ukupnoga kliničkoga stanja, varijabilne učestalosti i stupnja težine, a povezana je s razvojem komplikacija, smanjenjem fizičke aktivnosti, tjelesne kondicije i povećanim rizikom od smrtnog ishoda. Zbog ovih negativnih posljedica prevencija egzacerbacija glavni je cilj zbrinjavanja KOPB-a, a kada egzacerbacija nastane, primjena ispravne i učinkovite terapije. Do 75% epizoda akutne egzacerbacije obično je uzrokovano infektivnim agensom i povezano s povećanom upalom gornjih i donjih dišnih putova, a i sistemskom upalom; većinom su bakterijske etiologije, katkad s miješanom virusnom infekcijom. Egzacerbacije mogu biti umjerene ili teške, koje zahtijevaju hospitalizaciju, s potrebom primjene terapije antibioticima; i kategorija blagih egzacerbacija koje zbrinjavaju sami bolesnici, a bez potrebe za primjenom antibiotika. Za kliničku praksu raspravljene su i predložene smjernice antibiotske terapije umjerenih i teških egzacerbacija KOPB-a.
We report a patient who presented with leg weakness and cervical lymphadenopathy. Thoracical magnetic resonance imaging showed an inhomogenously increased signal in the thickened portion of the cord. ...Multilevel laminectomy and spinal cord biopsy revealed granulomatous infiltrations with necrosis. Review of the histopathological finding established the diagnosis of necrotising sarcoid granulomatosis (NSG) of the spinal medulla, cytological FNA diagnosis of the neck lymph node was granulomatous inflammation with necrosis, but histopathological analysis of the same neck lymph node disclosed granulomatous inflammation without necrosis. On further radiographic chest evaluation mediastinal lymphadenopathy was found. Immunophenotyping of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was indicative of sarcoidosis. After the administration of corticosteroid therapy the patient's clinical condition improved, and laryngeal and mediastinal lymph nodes subsided with minor changes remaining in the spinal medulla, which, based upon MR assessment, were considered to be irreversible. To our knowledge, this is the first described case with finding of granulomatous inflammation with and without vasculitis in various organs, consistent with the Churg's study who believes NSG to be a histological variant of sarcoidosis.
Lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LG) is currently called as extranodal angiocentric and angiodestructive immunoproliferative disorder with various degrees of histological differentiation and disease ...severity. Histological grading and clinical manifestations are due to number of atypical large EBV + B-lymphatic cells. We report the case of a 23-year-old man clinically presented with fever, sweating, and physical intolerance, and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates of nodular type and destructive changes on the chest X-ray, previously treated with antituberculotics for 1.5 month. As the disease showed progression, diagnostic procedures extended to transbronchial lung biopsy and percutaneous fine needle aspiration with cytological and histological analysis of collected specimens, all being not conclusive enough. LG was confirmed by open lung biopsy, followed by induction of corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide therapy. Very good clinical, functional and radiomorphologic improvement was achieved in a few weeks, and remission of disease maintained in long term follow-up.
Environmental factors play an important role in asthma morbidity, although the contribution of individual pollutants or pollens in exacerbating asthma is not completely elucidated. Despite the ...evidence of importance of the hornbeam pollen in inducing allergic sensitization, its role in provoking asthma exacerbation has not been evaluated. The aim of the present study was to investigate effects of traffic pollutants on adult asthma hospitalization adjusting for pollens including hornbeam.
During a 3-year period, health and environmental data were collected and analyzed. Daily asthma hospitalizations were regressed on pollutants and potential confounding variables using an autoregressive Poisson model.
The risk of asthma hospitalization was associated significantly with the 95th to 99th percentile increase in levels of nitrogen dioxide (RR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.05-1.40), carbon monoxide (RR = 1.25; 95% CI: 1.01-1.55) and hornbeam pollen (RR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.11-1.30). The effect of nitrogen dioxide was delayed by 5 days. No statistically significant increase in the risk of asthma hospitalization was found for PM(10) particles. A comparison among the standardized regression coefficients and their respective p values indicates that the most important risk factor for asthma hospitalization is associated with hornbeam pollen levels. No statistically significant interactions between pollutants and pollens were detected.
The current results suggest that traffic-related air pollution is associated with increased risk of adult asthma hospitalization. Nonetheless, the most significant risk for asthma hospitalization is associated with hornbeam pollen levels in the city of Zagreb.
Summary
We report a case of a 58-year-old man who developed rhinophyma caused by non-small cell lung cancer. To the best of our knowledge, rhinophyma as paraneoplastic syndrome associated with ...non-small cell lung cancer has not been previously reported.
Pneumonija iz opće populacije, odnosno stečena izvan bolnice vrlo je česta bolest uzrokovana brojnim mikroorganizmima s različitom kliničkom pojavnošću, težinom i prognozom te ima važan udio u ...pobolu i smrtnosti pučanstva s rastućim troškovima liječenja u cijelom svijetu. Izjednačavanje i poboljšanje liječenja odraslih bolesnika propisuju smjernice mnogih institucija i profesionalnih udruženja. Sve moderne smjernice za liječenje pneumonija iz opće populacije temelje se na kliničkoj dijagnozi pneumonije potvrđene rendgenskom slikom pluća i empirijskom izboru antibiotika. Poput ostalih najpoznatijih (američke, europske, britanske), naše smjernice s racionalnim pristupom baziraju se na procjeni težine bolesti, dobi bolesnika, popratnim kroničnim bolestima, rizičnim čimbenicima i epidemiološkim podatcima. Na osnovi težine bolesti propisuju dijagnostičke i terapijske postupke prema mjestu zbrinjavanja pneumonija: ambulantno, na bolničkom odjelu, odnosno u jedinicama za intenzivno liječenje. Liječenje pneumonija antibiotikom treba započeti odmah, odnosno u roku od četiri sata nakon postavljanja kliničke dijagnoze. Parenteralna primjena antibiotika može se zamijeniti peroralnom najčešće 48 – 96 sati od početka liječenja, čak i u bolesnika s težim oblikom bolesti ako su zadovoljeni kriteriji. Cijepljenje protiv influence i pneumokokne bolesti preporučuje se svim osobama s povišenim rizikom. U izradi smjernica sudjelovali su ekspertni predstavnici pet relevantnih društava HLZ-a i Hrvatskoga torakalnog društva te Referentnog centra za dijagnostiku i liječenje infektivnih bolesti Ministarstva zdravstva Republike Hrvatske. Namijenjene su liječnicima obiteljske medicine i specijalistima različitih struka koji liječe bolesnike s pneumonijom ambulantno ili u bolnici.
We report a patient who presented with leg weakness and cervical lymphadenopathy. Thoracical magnetic resonance imaging showed an inhomogenously increased signal in the thickened portion of the cord. ...Multilevel laminectomy and spinal cord biopsy revealed granulomatous infiltrations with necrosis. Review of the histopathological finding established the diagnosis of necrotising sarcoid granulomatosis (NSG) of the spinal medulla, cytological FNA diagnosis of the neck lymph node was granulomatous inflammation with necrosis, but histopathological analysis of the same neck lymph node disclosed granulomatous inflammation without necrosis. On further radiographic chest evaluation mediastinal lymphadenopathy was found. Immunophenotyping of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was indicative of sarcoidosis. After the administration of corticosteroid therapy the patient’s clinical condition improved, and laryngeal and mediastinal lymph nodes subsided with minor changes remaining in the spinal medulla, which, based upon MR assessment, were considered to be irreversible. To our knowledge, this is the first described case with finding of granulomatous inflammation with and without vasculitis in various organs, consistent with the Churg’s study who believes NSG to be a histological variant of sarcoidosis.
Lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LG) is currently called as extranodal angiocentric and angiodestructive immunoproliferative disorder with various degrees of histological differentiation and disease ...severity. Histological grading and clinical manifestations are due to number of atypical large EBV+ B-lymphatic cells. We report the case of a 23-year-old man clinically presented with fever, sweating, and physical intolerance, and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates of nodular type and destructive changes on the chest X-ray, previously treated with antituberculotics for 1.5 month. As the disease showed progression, diagnostic procedures extended to transbronchial lung biopsy and percutaneous fine needle aspiration with cytological and histological analysis of collected specimens, all being not conclusive enough. LG was confirmed by open lung biopsy, followed by induction of corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide therapy. Very good clinical, functional and radiomorphologic improvement was achieved in a few weeks, and remission of disease maintained in long term follow-up.
Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is a well-defined clinicopathological entity. The aetiology of BOOP is generally unknown, although it has been associated with specific diseases ...or various pharmaceutical drugs. The amiodarone is one of them. We report a patient with BOOP secondary to amiodarone therapy, who presented with cough, fever and sputum production, dyspnoea and night sweats lasting for two months. A chest radiograph showed bilateral patchy and interstitial infiltrates. Lymphocyte phenotyping of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid showed decreased ratio of CD4+:CD8+ lymphocytes. Transbronchial lung biopsy established the diagnosis of BOOP. After stopping amiodarone therapy, symptoms disappeared and the chest radiograph remained normal within two months.
Tumor growth is associated with oxidative stress, which causes lipid peroxidation. The most intensively studied product of lipid peroxidation is 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), which is considered as a ..."second messenger of free radicals" that binds to proteins and acts as a growth-regulating signaling factor. The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx is associated with smoking, alcohol and infection of human papilloma virus (HPV), with increasing incidence world-wide. The aim of this retrospective study involving 102 patients was to determine the immunohistochemical appearance of HNE-protein adducts as a potential biomarker of lipid peroxidation in squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx. The HNE-protein adducts were detected in almost all tumor samples and in the surrounding non-tumorous tissue, while we found that HNE is differentially distributed in squamous cell carcinomas in dependence of clinical stage and histological grading of these tumors. Namely, the level of HNE-immunopositivity was increased in comparison to the normal oropharyngeal epithelium in well- and in moderately-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, while it was decreasing in poorly differentiated carcinomas and in advanced stages of cancer. However, more malignant and advanced cancer was associated with the increase of HNE in surrounding, normal tissue. This study confirmed the onset of lipid peroxidation, generating HNE-protein adducts that can be used as a valuable bioactive marker of carcinogenesis in squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, as well as indicating involvement of HNE in pathophysiological changes of the non-malignant tissue in the vicinity of cancer.
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