Drs Hoffman and Barr Replies:
We would like to thank Drs. Hochhegger, Irion and Marchiori for their kind comments and their thoughtful questions. The issue regarding appropriate density-mask thresholds for the characterization of emphysema via quantitative computed tomography (CT)-based assessment of the lung is an important one. Quantitative CT has been used with increasing frequency to assess presence, extent, and location of emphysema-like lung for the purposes of pharmaceutical efficacy testing, safety testing, population selection for device placement, and for the identification of homogeneous subphenotypes within the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) population to better target new therapeutic development efforts. Although quantitative CT has contributed greatly to these efforts, the measures are, in ......
POSTED 02/08/2010 at 09:28 AM --
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Talecris Biotherapeutics Receives Orphan Drug Designation For Aerosolized Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor To Treat Alpha1-Antitrypsin Deficiency
Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: TLCR) announced that it was granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the development of an aerosol formulation of Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor (Human, A1PI) to treat congenital alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. AAT deficiency is a chronic, hereditary condition that increases the risk of certain diseases, especially emphysema, which typically emerges in the fourth decade of life. Currently, there are no approved, inhaled treatments available for the treatment of AAT deficiency... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)...
POSTED 02/08/2010 at 05:00 AM --
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Rudhe syndrome: reversible right middle lobe emphysema in infants with left-to-right shunts—an historical review
Abstract In 1971, the Swedish radiologist Ulf Rudhe wrote a provocative paper on right middle lobe emphysema in infants with left-to-right
shunts in which he suggested cardiac surgery rather than lung resection. At the time, this was counter to accepted medical
practice. Earlier diagnosis and better medical management of ventricular septal defect in infants has proved Rudhe correct.
However, two current cases of large left-to-right shunts in infants with emphysema of the right middle lobe prompt this historical
review of what seemed a closed-episode in pediatric cardiac surgery.
Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Historical PerspectiveDOI 10.1007/s00247-009-1530-0Authors
Lee K. Collins, Schneiders Children’s Hospital Department of Radiology Manhasset NY USATerry L. ......
POSTED 02/05/2010 at 02:33 AM --
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Chronic Cigarette Smoke Exposure Generates Pathogenic T Cells Capable of Driving COPD-like Disease in Rag2-/- Mice.
CONCLUSIONS: These data formally demonstrate, for the first time, that chronic CS exposure leads to the generation of pathogenic T cells capable of inducing COPD-like disease in Rag2-/- mice. This report provides novel insights into COPD pathogenesis.
PMID: 20133926 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Am J Respir Crit Car...)...
POSTED 02/03/2010 at 06:00 PM --
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Quantitative Analysis of Pulmonary Emphysema Using Local Binary Patterns
We aim at improving quantitative measures of emphysema in computed tomography (CT) images of the lungs. Current standard measures, such as the relative area of emphysema (RA), rely on a single intensity threshold on individual pixels, thus ignoring any interrelations between pixels. Texture analysis allows for a much richer representation that also takes the local structure around pixels into account. This paper presents a texture classification-based system for emphysema quantification in CT images. Measures of emphysema severity are obtained by fusing pixel posterior probabilities output by a classifier. Local binary patterns (LBP) are used as texture features, and joint LBP and intensity histograms are used for characterizing regions of interest (ROIs). Classification is then performed ......
POSTED 01/31/2010 at 06:00 PM --
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Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of lung type 1
We describe a case of congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation type 1 with multilobar involvement, associated emphysema, and coexistent tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica in an adolescent girl for whom the correct diagnosis was achieved only on histologic examination. The importance of an accurate diagnosis of this entity enables proper subtyping, management to minimize the risk of infections and malignancy, and exclusion of associated malformations. (Source: Journal of Pediatric Surgery)...
POSTED 01/31/2010 at 06:00 PM --
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[Pneumothorax following nasogastric feeding tube insertion : Case report and review of the literature.]
Authors: Hensel M, Marnitz R
A 54-year-old alcohol-dependant male patient suffering from severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome had to be intubated and artificially ventilated because of autonomic instability, convulsions and pulmonary dysfunction. A nasogastric tube (NGT) was inserted for enteral feeding and although placement was difficult the NGT was finally inserted after repeated attempts. Correct positioning of the NGT was evaluated by clinical means using insufflation of air and epigastric auscultation. As a typical "bubble" sound was epigastrically audible it has been assumed that the NGT was in the correct position. However, a routine control chest X-ray revealed a right-sided pneumothorax due to misplaced insertion of the tube into the bronchial system. Furthermore the patient de......
POSTED 01/30/2010 at 06:00 PM --
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Assessment of air space size characteristics by intercept (chord) measurement: an accurate and efficient stereological approach
In conclusion, although Lm is not a robust parameter of internal lung structure because it crucially depends on lung volume, it is still a valid measure for which accurate and efficient methods are available that yield additional parameters such as size distribution or alveolar surface area. (Source: Journal of Applied Physiology)...
POSTED 01/29/2010 at 12:16 PM --
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Mild emphysema linked to subclinical hemodynamic changes
Increasing emphysema extent and degree of airflow obstruction are linearly associated with decreasing left ventricular end-diastolic volume, stroke volume, and cardiac output in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who are free of clinical cardiovascular disease, shows a population-based study. (Source: MedWire News - Cardiology)...
POSTED 01/28/2010 at 08:01 AM --
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New Potential To Treat Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is defined by emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis. It destroys the normal architecture of the lung and inhibits the mechanical aspects of breathing, which prevents necessary gas exchange. Patients suffer from coughing fits, wheezing, and increased incidence of lung infections. These symptoms are associated with changes in the architecture of the lung. The air sacs, which usually inflate with air during breathing as they loose their elasticity, becoming rigid and unable to inflate... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)...
POSTED 01/28/2010 at 05:00 AM --
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New Potential To Treat Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is defined by emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis. It destroys the normal architecture of the lung and inhibits the mechanical aspects of breathing, which prevents necessary gas exchange. Patients suffer from coughing fits, wheezing, and increased incidence of lung infections. These symptoms are associated with changes in the architecture of the lung... (Source: Genetics News From Medical News Today)...
POSTED 01/28/2010 at 05:00 AM --
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New potential to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) makes it difficult to breath and there is currently no cure. COPD is characterized by emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which usually stems from smoking, toxin or allergen exposure and certain genetic abnormalities. New research shows that inactivating a naturally occurring antioxidant protein in mice can block many of the debilitating side effects that are characteristic of COPD. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)...
POSTED 01/28/2010 at 04:00 AM --
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Iatrogenic Pneumomediastinum and Facial Emphysema After Surgical Tooth Extraction [IMAGES IN CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERY]
(Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery)...
POSTED 01/27/2010 at 01:27 PM --
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New potential to treat COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is defined by emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis. It destroys the normal architecture of the lung and inhibits the mechanical aspects of breathing, which prevents necessary gas exchange. Patients suffer from coughing fits, wheezing, and increased occurence rate of lung infections. These symptoms are linked to changes in the architecture of the lung. The air sacs, which commonly inflate with air during breathing as they loose their elasticity, becoming rigid and unable to inflate. The lung becomes inflamed and increases its mucus production, which further inhibits gas exchange, and prevents the patient's ability to be physically active........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)...
POSTED 01/27/2010 at 08:04 AM --
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New potential to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(The Company of Biologists) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) makes it difficult to breath and there is currently no cure. COPD is characterized by emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which usually stems from smoking, toxin or allergen exposure and certain genetic abnormalities. New research shows that inactivating a naturally occurring antioxidant protein in mice can block many of the debilitating side effects that are characteristic of COPD. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)...
POSTED 01/26/2010 at 11:00 PM --
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What Causes Respiratory Distress?
Discussion
Pectus excavatum is a deformation of the chest wall where the sternum and ribs grow abnormally to form a concavity relative to normal positioning. Pectus carnitum is similar but forms a convexity. Pectus excavatum is much more common (90%) than pectus carnitum (7-8%) or other congenital chest wall deformities (2-3%). Pectus excavatum is usually noted at birth or in the first year of life. It may be relatively minor (the most common) or quite severe (rarer) with the concavity displacing internal organs and possibly causing pulmonary and/or cardiac abnormalities. Usually it is relatively stable, but may progress especially during times of rapid growth such as puberty. Thankfully most patients do not need treatment but severe pectus excavatum may cause psychological distress becaus......
POSTED 01/24/2010 at 06:01 PM --
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Mild emphysema linked to hemodynamic changes
Increased emphysema extent and degree of airflow obstruction are associated with reduced left ventricular filling, stroke volume, and cardiac output, even in people without very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, research shows. (Source: MedWire News - Respiratory)...
POSTED 01/21/2010 at 06:00 PM --
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Combined Pulmonary Fibrosis and Emphysema: 3D Time-resolved MR Angiographic Evaluation of Pulmonary Arterial Mean Transit Time and Time to Peak Enhancement [THORACIC IMAGING]
In patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE), the mean transit time for first-order pulmonary arteries provides insight into the functional status of the pulmonary circulation and becomes a tool for identifying patients with CPFE who have pulmonary hypertension. (Source: Radiology)...
POSTED 01/21/2010 at 12:50 PM --
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Mild emphysema tied to subclinical LV diastolic dysfunction in population-based study
The findings have implications for the workup of patients presenting with dyspnea for whom heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is one potential diagnosis, according to researchers.
For complete story visit theheart.org. (Source: theHeart.org)...
POSTED 01/21/2010 at 09:30 AM --
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Even Mild COPD Affects the Heart (CME/CE, with audio)
Chronic lung disease begins to affect cardiac function at even mild levels of emphysema, data from a large prospective cohort study showed. (Source: MedPage Today Cardiovascular)...
POSTED 01/20/2010 at 03:00 PM --
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