Nihon Kokyuki Gakkai zasshi = the journal of the Japanese Respiratory Society最新文献

Background and objective: The origin of frequency dependence of respiratory resistance has been explained by ventilation inhomogeneity, however it is unclear which components in the respiratory system generate the frequency dependence. The author constructed a 4D pulmonary lobule model and analyzed relationships between airflow rate, pressure and airway resistance by the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Methods: The lobule model contained bifurcated bronchioles with two adjacent acini in which deformable inter-acinar septa and alveolar duct walls were designed. Constrictive conditions of respective bronchioles were designed, too. 4D finite element models for CFD were generated and airflow simulations were performed under moving boundary conditions of the arbitrary Lagrangean-Eulerean method. From the simulation results, airway resistances for various conditions were calculated.

Results: Tissue resistance emerged under the condition of different acinar pressures caused by unequal airway resistances. If the inter-acinar septum was shifted so as to cancel the pressure difference, the acinar pressures were equal in spite of unequal airway resistances, and hence, tissue resistances did not emerge. Therefore, the tissue resistance in the former case is thought to be an index of alveolar pressure inequality (which could be canceled by mechanical interaction of lung parenchyma), rather than a material property of the tissue itself.

Conclusions: Inequality of alveolar pressure decreases as the input oscillatory frequency increases. Therefore, frequency dependence of the respiratory resistance should be regarded as a conditional index of the alveolar pressure inequality caused by heterogeneous changes in the intra-pulmonary airway and/or the lung parenchyma.

A 65-year-old man who had suffered from traumatic spinal cord injury had chronic lumbar pain. He had exacerbation of lumbar pain and intermittent fever and consulted several doctors, but the cause of the lumbar pain was unknown. An orthopedic specialist took an MRI. Spinal MRI showed increased signal intensity at the level of T10-11 and a mass in his right lower lung field, so he was referred to our hospital. Two transbronchial lung biopsy procedures failed to obtain malignant cells. CT guided biopsy showed fibrous and hyalinizing tissue contained plasma cells and lyphocytes. Staphylococcus aureus was cultured from the second bronchial lavage fluids of brush and blood cultures, so we began administration of ampicillin-sulbactam. Avoiding threatened or actual cord compression due to collapse resulting from spinal instability, posterior fusion with instrumentation was done through the back of his chest wall. At once, bone biopsy was done, and showed no malignant cells. As soon as antibacterial treatment was stopped after the operation, he had bloody sputa and fever. The antibacterial agent was resumed and the symptoms improved. The mass decreased in size and lumbar pain improved gradually, so we concluded the diagnosis was pyogenic spondylitis caused by S. aureus. After about 5 months of antibacterial treatment, the tumor substantially diminished.

We reviewed the clinicopathological characteristics of lung abscesses retrospectively. We analyzed 89 patients hospitalized from July 1984 to May 2009. Most were men (76/89). There were large proportions with alcohol consumption (29.2%) and dental caries or gingivitis (60.7%). Furthermore, those without other diseases accounted for only 13.5%. Predominant infectious species were clear in 43 cases (48.3%) including identification of bacteria. The identification rate of predominant bacteria improved from 38.5% to 56.0% after initiation of the introduction of expectoration culture, bronchoscopic specimen collection and gingival culture in 2003, facilitating clarification of the predominant bacteria. The Streptococcus anginosus group with predominant bacteria being slightly aerobic streptococci, anaerobic bacterium, and aerobic bacterium was detected in 10, 12, and 31 cases, respectively. The improvement in the identification rate of predominant bacteria was achieved by carrying out examination with close liaison with the staff of our inspection room. In selecting antimicrobials based on diagnostic significance, we should focus on positive identification of predominant bacteria, a factor which appears to have major clinical significance.

A 60-year-old woman was given a diagnosis of Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) in 2000 because of peripheral blood eosinophilia, eosinophilic pneumonia, asthma, polyarticular pain, and limb numbness. She was treated with prednisolone (PSL), and the above symptoms improved but then relapsed on tapering of PSL. In September 2009, after 7 days of tapering of PSL to 5mg/day, the patient developed a subarachnoid hemorrhage and was admitted. MRA and cerebral angiography revealed no aneurysm; the source of bleeding could not be determined, but her symptoms indicated a benign course. A chest X-ray 27 days after admission showed left diaphragmatic elevation, and left phrenic nerve paralysis was diagnosed by a phrenic nerve stimulation test. Peripheral blood eosinophilia had progressed gradually during the admission period, and although it is rare for subarachnoid hemorrhage and phrenic nerve paralysis to be associated with CSS, we regarded these as vasculitis symptoms related to CSS.

We report here a case of pulmonary benign metastasizing leiomyoma (BML) from the uterus. A 48-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of multiple pulmonary nodules on the chest radiograph 7 years after total hysterectomy with removal of the left ovarium for uterine leiomyoma. A specimen of the lesion obtained by a thoracoscopic lung biopsy was consistent with leiomyoma. Histological re-evaluation of the uterine myoma showed similar histology as compared with the lung tumor. Immunohistological staining for both estrogen and progesterone receptors on the lung tissue was positive. Based on these results, we diagnosed the pulmonary lesions as BML. The patient received no treatment and has shown no evidence of exacerbation of disease during 6 years of follow up.

A 33-year old man was admitted to our hospital because of an abnormal shadow on the chest radiograph, dry cough, and exertional dyspnea. Chest radiograph and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) on admission showed ground-glass opacities and bronchiectasis with volume loss in the bilateral dorsal areas. Thoracoscopic lung biopsy specimens showed mainly a pattern of NSIP (nonspecific interstitial pneumonia). We considered this case as hypersensitivity pneumonia or interstitial pneumonia (IP) associated with collagen disease. Oral prednisolone (PSL) was initiated at 55 mg/day (1 mg/kg). However he complained of proximal muscle weakness and pain and difficulty of breathing. He had heart failure due to the myocarditis. We established a diagnosis of IP associated with polymyositis and it was confirmed by his symptoms, muscle biopsy findings and elevation of serum CPK. We considered this case as the myocarditis due to polymyositis.

A 65-year-old man without a history of cancer presented to our hospital because he was suspected of having acute pulmonary thromboembolism. Dyspnea that had developed 1 month before admission, had worsened 1-week before admission. Chest computed tomography showed faint ground-glass opacities in the lung fields without filling defects in the pulmonary arteries. He was transferred to the department of respiratory medicine for further investigation. Perfusion scintigraphy showed multiple, small perfusion defects throughout both lungs, and laboratory data showed increased lactic dehydrogenase value and thrombocytopenia. We suspected intravascular lymphoma, and a bone marrow aspiration smear detected malignant cells. We started chemotherapy on a diagnosis of intravascular lymphoma, which resulted in remarkable improvement of respiratory failure and pulmonary hypertension. After that, further evaluation of bone marrow specimen with immunostaining, the malignant cells were found not to be lymphoma cells but cancer cells. The primary site of the cells was not found by further investigation. Because of improvement of oxygenation and pulmonary hypertension, we performed transbronchial lung biopsy and diagnosed pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy. Here, we report this case and review previous reports.

We report a case of drug-induced pneumonitis caused by saikokeishikankyoto. A 68-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of dry cough, fever, and dyspnea after taking saikokeishikankyoto for 16 days. A chest radiograph showed widespread ground-glass shadows in both lung fields. Chest CT showed ground-glass opacities and thickening of the interlobular septum in both lung fields. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluids and transbronchial lung biopsy specimen showed findings consistent with drug-induced pneumonitis, therefore we diagnosed drug-induced pneumonitis caused by saikokeishikankyoto. Three years previously she had suffered from a similar illness after taking hangeshashinto. Ougon is suspected to be a causative component for her saikokeishikankyoto-induced pneumonitis, because it has been reported to be as a main cause for kampo-induced pneumonitis.

A 78-year-old woman was admitted because of persistent cough, fever and sputum for one week. She had been treated with radiation therapy for inoperable thymoma complicated by severe heart failure and had been suffering from recurrent pneumonia and otitis media since then. A chest radiograph on admission showed an anterior mediastinal mass shadow and infiltrates in the bilateral lower lung fields. Serum gamma globulin was decreased and erythroid cells in the bone marrow were markedly decreased. Thymoma with hypogammaglobulinemia is called Good syndrome. We reported this very rare case of Good syndrome. After improving the infection, cyclosporine A was administered for PRCA and hypo-gamma globulinemia, but we discontinued this due to liver dysfunction. We have been currently continuing her treatment with red blood cell transfusion and immunoglobulin supplement only.

A 57-year-old man had limited-disease small cell lung cancer in the left lower lobe of the lung. He was treated with chemotherapy with concurrent accelerated hyperfractionated thoracic radiation, followed by high-dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. He had obtained a complete response for 10 years until the tumor in the left lower lobe was detected by positron emission tomography. Bronchoscopic brushing cytology revealed small cell cancer, which was considered to be local relapse by staging work-up. He achieved a partial response with chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin and irinotecan. The progression-free survival rate at 5 years in limited-disease small cell lung cancer ranges from 10% to 25%. Although it was difficult to distinguish the relapse of lung cancer from second primary lung cancer, we considered this case as relapse because the tumor had the same cytology in the same lobe as the previous primary tumor. The residual cells refractory to concomitant chemoradiotherapy followed by high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation had survived and proliferated after 10 years.