Search results for "Respiratory system"

Early Lung Function Abnormalities in Acromegaly.

2014

BACKGROUND: Acromegaly is an insidious disorder caused by a pituitary growth hormone (GH)-secreting adenoma resulting in high circulating levels of GH and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). Respiratory disorders are common complications in acromegaly, and can severely impact on quality of life, eventually affecting mortality. OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to explore structural and functional lung alterations of acromegalic subjects. METHODS: We enrolled 10 consecutive patients (M/F: 5/5) affected by acromegaly. In all patients, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed the presence of pituitary tumor. All patients underwent clinical, lung functional, biological, and radiological as…

Correlation of Clinical and Immunologic Parameters of the Inflammatory Activity of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis

1991

The evaluation of activation markers such as T4/T8 ratio and HLA-DR expression of lymphocytes of bronchoalveolar lavage (L-BAL) is an important clinical approach for the staging of sarcoidosis. However, it is not known to what extent this is paralleled by an exaggerated lymphocyte function. We investigated the dependence of L-BAL activation markers on the production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) by L-BAL and on the soluble IL-2 receptor serum level (sIL-2R) in 116 patients with sarcoidosis. In none of the combinations tested was a correlation between the two groups of parameters found; r less than 0.5, upper 90% confidence limit of r less than 0.8. Interestingly, IL-2 production is independent of…

HRCT and scleroderma: semiquantitative evaluation of lung damage and functional abnormalities.

2007

This study sought to validate the Warrick score in the assessment of lung involvement in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and correlate the results with functional abnormalities. In addition, we propose the use of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) indices of alveolitis and fibrosis to discriminate between different stages of the disease.Thirty-one patients with SSc (16 with the diffuse form and 15 with the limited form) underwent functional and HRCT evaluations of the lung. The semiquantitative evaluation of radiological involvement, as proposed by Warrick, provides a score for each lesion based on the severity and the extent of the pulmonary damage. In addition to the total score, indices…

Identification of a Lipid Transfer Protein as a New Allergen From Morus alba Pollen.

2017

Meat allergy associated with galactosyl‐α‐(1,3)‐galactose (α‐Gal)—Closing diagnostic gaps by anti‐α‐Gal IgE immune profiling

2017

Background Glycoproteins and glycolipids of some mammalian species contain the disaccharide galactosyl-α-(1,3)-galactose (α-Gal). It is known that α-Gal is immunogenic in humans and causes glycan-specific IgG and also IgE responses with clinical relevance. α-Gal is part of the IgE-reactive monoclonal therapeutic antibody cetuximab (CTX) and is associated with delayed anaphylaxis to red meat. In this study, different α-Gal-containing analytes are examined in singleplex and multiplex assays to resolve individual sensitization patterns with IgE against α-Gal. Methods Three serum groups, α-Gal-associated meat allergy (MA) patients, idiopathic anaphylaxis (IA) patients with suspected MA, and non…

Performance characteristics of the new Abbott Real Time MTB assay for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in respiratory specimens

2015

The performance of the Abbott Real Time MTB assay for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in respiratory specimens was evaluated using a standard culture as the reference. The overall concordance between both methods was 0.95. The assay displayed an excellent sensitivity (100% for smear-positive/92.3% for smear-negative specimens) and specificity (100%).

Hereditary angioedema with a mutation in the plasminogen gene

2017

Background Hereditary angioedema (HAE) with normal C1-INH (HAEnCI) may be linked to specific mutations in the coagulation factor 12 (FXII) gene (HAE-FXII) or functional mutations in other genes that are still unknown. We sought to identify and characterize a hitherto unknown type of HAE with normal C1-INH and without mutation in the F12 gene. Methods The study comprised analysis of whole-exome sequencing, Sanger sequencing, and clinical data of patients. Results We detected a mutation in the plasminogen (PLG) gene in patients with HAEnCI. The mutation c.9886A>G was located in exon 9 leading to the missense mutation p.Lys330Glu (K330E) in the kringle 3 domain of the PLG protein. The mutation…

Tralokinumab did not demonstrate oral corticosteroid-sparing effects in severe asthma

2018

Long-term oral corticosteroid (OCS) use in patients with severe asthma is associated with significant adverse effects.This 40-week, randomised, double-blind trial evaluated the OCS-sparing potential of tralokinumab in patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma requiring maintenance OCS treatment plus inhaled corticosteroids/long-acting β2-agonists. Overall, 140 patients were randomised to tralokinumab 300 mg or placebo (n=70 in each group) administered subcutaneously every 2 weeks. The primary end-point was percentage change from baseline in average OCS dose at week 40, while maintaining asthma control. Secondary end-points included proportion of patients with a prescribed maintenance OCS do…

Switching from omalizumab to mepolizumab: real-life experience from Southern Italy.

2020

Background: Current availability of several biologic treatments for severe asthma makes it possible to choose the most appropriate for each patient. Sometimes a good percentage of patients with severe asthma may be eligible for biologics that target either the allergic phenotype or the eosinophilic one, but not all respond to that selected as first choice. The aim of our real-life study was to assess whether, for patients with severe eosinophilic allergic asthma, not previously controlled by the anti-IgE omalizumab, the shift to another biologic targeting interleukin-5, such as mepolizumab, may represent a good therapeutic choice. Methods: A total of 41 consecutive patients with severe, per…

High-frequency oscillatory ventilation in adults with traumatic brain injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome

2005

This study observed adverse events of rescue treatment with high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) in head-injured patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).Data of five male patients with ARDS and traumatic brain injury, median age 28 years, who failed to respond to conventional pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV) were analyzed retrospectively during HFOV. Adjusted mean airway pressure at initiation of HFOV was set to 5 cm H2O above the last measured mean airway pressure during PCV. Frequency of pulmonary air leak, mucus obstruction, tracheal injury, and need of HFOV termination due to increased intracranial pressure, decreased cerebral perfusion pressure, or deteri…