Introduction: Diagnostic approaches to patients with a pleural effusion must be precise because many procedures depend on the nature of the fluid in the effusion. To date, no biochemical test is considered an appropriate alternative to Light's criteria. This study compared the absolute pleural cholesterol (PC) level and the pleural cholesterol/serum cholesterol (PC/SC) ratio with Light's criteria to determine exudative pleural effusions.

To determine cell profiles, as well as to identify CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte subgroups, in induced sputum (IS) and peripheral venous blood (PVB) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Total cell counts and counts of individual cell types, including CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, were determined in the IS and PVB of 85 subjects (38 with COPD without exacerbation, 29 smokers without obstruction and 18 nonsmokers). Mann-Whitney and Spearman non-parametric tests were used in the statistical analysis, and values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Comparing the IS of subjects with COPD to that of nonsmokers, neutrophil, eosinophil and CD8+ T lymphocyte counts were higher (respectively p = 0.005, p < 0.05 and p < 0.05), whereas the percentage of macrophages was lower (p = 0.003). There were weak linear correlations (r(2) < 0.1) between each cell type in IS and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and...

To quantify elastic fibers (EFs) and smooth muscle (SM) cells, as well as CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Surgical specimens were obtained from 15 COPD patients, 18 smokers without airflow limitation, and 14 nonsmokers. Histological and immunohistochemical methods were employed in order to quantify EFs, SM cells, CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells. There was no significant difference in EF numbers among the three groups (p > 0.05). The number of EFs per unit area of lung tissue (mm(2)) and the percentage of EFs in the lung tissue were similar among the three groups. The numbers of SM cells were found to be higher in the COPD patients than in the smokers (p = 0.003) or in the nonsmokers (p = 0.009). There was a tendency toward an increase in CD8+ T-cell counts in the COPD patients. In specimens collected from the COPD patients, CD4+ T-cell counts were lower than in those collected from the smokers (p = 0.015) or from the nonsmokers ...

In hospital, the medicine staff can have more than eight different units to measure pressure in daily practice. The six units more commonly used are pascal (Pa); cmH2O, mmHg, psi, kgf/cm 2 and bar. This diversity brings shortcomings to the doctor in need of prompt conversion. The objective was support pulmologists, critical care physicians or anesthetists to analyze the different

We report the case of a 56-year-old patient who underwent left single lung transplantation for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Despite the high level of immunosuppression after the surgery, there was rapid progression to IPF in the native (right) lung as demonstrated by thoracoscopic lung biopsy. After 104 days on mechanical ventilation (MV), the patient underwent right lung transplant and was discharged from the hospital on postoperative day 26.

We report the case of a 56-year-old patient who underwent left single lung transplantation for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Despite the high level of immunosuppression after the surgery, there was rapid progression to IPF in the native (right) lung as demonstrated by thoracoscopic lung biopsy. After 104 days on mechanical ventilation (MV), the patient underwent right lung transplant and was discharged from the hospital on postoperative day 26.

Existem mais de oito unidades de pressão, sendo seis de uso mais rotineiro em ambientes hospitalares: pascal (Pa), cmH 2 O, mmHg, psi, kgf/cm 2 e bar. Esta diversidade dificulta o médico quando ele necessita converter unidades para interpretar um resultado. Nosso objetivo é enfocar a atenção do médico pneumologista, intensivista ou anestesista para as várias unidades de pressão, de uso comum em ambientes hospitalares, indicar modos de grafia destas unidades, propor métodos mnemônicos de conversão e demonstrar a importância do uso de apenas uma só unidade internacional de pressão, o pascal (Pa). O CONMETRO, órgão normalizador das unidades de medidas em uso no Brasil, determina e adota o uso do pascal (Pa) -unidade de pressão do Sistema Internacional de Unidades (SI) -e admite temporariamente o uso de outras unidades como atmosfera, bar e mmHg (Torr), embora não cite as unidades psi, kgf/cm 2 ou cmH 2 O amplamente utilizadas em aparelhos hospitalares. Este Órgão legisla também sobre a grafia das unidades de pressão. As unidades de pressão podem ser convertidas com o uso de "regra de três" e o endereço da Internet: http://www.webcalc.com.br pode ser consultado para conversão rápida. Fato importante é que os aparelhos médicos pneumáticos são padronizados para serem conectados em sistema de pressão de 3,45kgf/cm 2 , o que equivale a ~50psi ou 338kPa. Concluímos que o uso de múltiplas unidades de pressão traz para o médico diversas dificuldades de interpretação. A adoção do pascal (Pa) e seus múltiplos, como única unidade internacional de pressão vai unificar a linguagem médica. Esta adoção tem que ser gradativa considerando-se o grande número de aparelhos médicos em utilização. A única exceção será a permanência da unidade mmHg para medidas de pressão arterial.