The Adventures and Times of Eosilred,Prince of Elfour: A Bloodtime Story: Part IV

Eighty patients with carcinoma of the lung have been treated at the Nova Scotia Sanatorium since 1940; in 15, coexisting active pulmonary tuberculosis was present. No characteristic clinical or roentgenological findings indicated that the tuberculous individual also had lung cancer. In four cases cancer was not diagnosed until the lung was examined by the pathologist. In the others a considerable interval elapsed before carcinoma was suspected.Only four patients with known cancer were considered suitable for thoracotomy. In three, an attempt at curative resection was made. One survived over seven years before accidental death; one is alive less than one year after operation; the third died as a result of the surgery. Bronchogenic carcinoma should be suspected in every tuberculous patient over the age of 50; diagnostic investigations should include bronchoscopy and cytological studies of bronchial secretion and sputum. Suspicion of carcinoma in any such patient constitutes an indication for early resection of the tuberculous disease.     

Lung Resection for Tuberculosis in Children

At the Nova Scotia Sanatorium from 1944 to 1959 lung resection for tuberculosis was carried out in 1257 instances. Of these, 44 operations were performed on 41 children from 5 to 15 years of age. Two patients had bilateral surgery, and in two others a second homolateral resection was necessary. Twenty-five per cent of the operations were done for the “middle lobe syndrome”, the remainder for the reinfection type of tuberculosis. Two children died, one in the early postoperative period, of pulmonary edema, and the other six years after a second homolateral resection for progression of her tuberculous disease. Complications occurred in 20% of cases, of which 18% were early and reversible. Thirty-eight of the survivors have fully recovered and the other has improved.Pulmonary resection is required infrequently in children with tuberculosis. When it is indicated, the results are excellent. These young patients withstand major thoracic surgery extremely well.     

多层螺旋CT对肺结核合并肺癌患者的诊断价值

目的:研究多层螺旋CT对肺结核合并肺癌的鉴别诊断价值。方法:选择2013年3月至2015年9月在我院确诊的肺结核合并肺癌患者32例和单纯肺结核患者39例应用多层螺旋CT扫描患者肺部病变情况。结果:肺结核合并肺癌组:陈旧性肺结核28例、活动性肺结核4例;病灶位置经典部位29例、非经典部位3例,合并鳞癌11例、腺癌13例、小细胞癌5例、未分化癌3例;10例结核病灶与肺癌病灶不同侧、13例结核病灶与肺癌病灶同侧不同叶、9例结核病灶于肺癌病灶同侧同叶。单纯性肺结核组胨旧性肺结核36例、活动性肺结核3例;病灶位置经典部位34例(上叶尖段11例、后段9例、下叶背段14例)、非经典部位5例。肺结核合并肺癌组患者分叶征、毛刺征、胸膜凹陷征、阻塞性肺炎及肺不张以及棘状突起比例高于单纯肺结核组,而空泡影比例低于单纯肺结核组,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);两组钙化、斑片条索影、结节影以及空洞或空腔比较,差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:多层螺旋CT对肺结核合并肺癌具有较高的临床鉴别诊断价值。     

Evaluation Before Thoracotomy

When a thoracotomy is being considered, the physician must first determine whether the lesion is potentially resectable. However, an equally important decision is whether the patient can tolerate pulmonary resection if there are other serious underlying medical problems. In any patient with signs or symptoms of pulmonary disease, a spirogram, arterial blood gas study and electrocardiogram should be done as part of the routine preoperative evaluation. The detection of abnormal pulmonary function should prompt preoperative institution of respiratory care to optimize maximally a patient''s cardiorespiratory status before operation. If any of several indicators of a high risk of postoperative cardiopulmonary problems are found, split pulmonary function studies should be done to determine whether the lung remaining after resection will have adequate ventilation and perfusion. Xenon radiospirometry is preferable to bronchospirometry and right heart catheterization because of its noninvasiveness. Resection should not be undertaken in the presence of a predicted postoperative forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) less than 0.8 liter, an arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure (PaCO₂) greater than 45 mm of mercury or Xenon scans which show poor ventilation/perfusion (˙V/˙Q) matchup in what would be the remaining lung after resection. A case is reported which shows the value of this approach to preoperative evaluation in determining the risk of postoperative problems.     

Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in tissue affected by sarcoidosis.

OBJECTIVE--To investigate the prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in granulomatous tissues from patients with sarcoidosis and from controls matched for age, sex, and tissue by using the polymerase chain reaction. DESIGN--Single blind control trial. SUBJECTS--16 patients with sarcoidosis who had undergone diagnostic biopsy of lung, skin, or lymph node and 16 patients with squamous cell carcinoma or Hodgkin''s disease to act as controls. In addition, four lung specimens infected with M tuberculosis were included as positive controls. RESULTS--M tuberculosis DNA was present in sarcoid tissues containing granulomas from seven of the 16 patients and one of the 16 matched controls. Two of the four specimens known to be infected with M tuberculosis were positive in the controlled experiment. CONCLUSION--These figures suggest that M tuberculosis DNA is detected as readily in patients with sarcoidosis as in patients with frankly tuberculous tissues and imply that M tuberculosis may be linked to the cause of sarcoidosis.     

Wilms' tumour: treatment of 113 patients from 1960 to 1971

The crude 5-year survival rate among children with Wilms'' tumour increased from 54% for those diagnosed from 1960 to 1965 to 81% for the period 1966 to 1971. This resulted from an increased ability to cure metastatic disease and, to a lesser extent, to an increased ability to prevent relapse. It is proposed that, after resection and postoperative irradiation, maintained combination chemotherapy with actinomycin D and vincristine should be used electively to prevent relapse, but that this use should also be selective in order that overall morbidity be minimized. Of urgent priority, therefore, is improved delineation of present-day prognostic factors in children with Wilms'' tumour.     

The treatment of infectious diseases: advances in the use of antimicrobial drugs

Twenty-eight patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in a small, tax-supported sanatorium were treated by primary pulmonary resection. In a comparison of results with those obtained in the same sanatorium by thoracoplasty and extrapleural pneumothorax, it was noted that in general the patients who had resection had earlier conversion of sputum to "negative" and had a shorter stay in hospital. Complications were not of sufficient frequency to contraindicate use of resection in cases in which there was doubt that thoracoplasty would be effective. The cost of hospitalization for surgical treatment and postoperative care was considerably less when resection was done than it was for either three-stage or two-stage thoracoplasty.     

CURRENT VIEWS ON GENITOURINARY TUBERCULOSIS

Tubercle bacilli are spread by the blood stream to the kidney in miliary fashion from the primary pulmonary lesion. Activation, followed by arrest, may delay development of the disease in the kidney for many years or “healing” may occur. Renal ulcerative lesions are the most frequent source of infection of other genitourinary organs.In pyelograms there is no particular characteristic of lesions of tuberculosis. Cellular elements in the urine of a patient with tuberculosis of other organs should lead to urine culture and guinea pig inoculation for mycobacterium tuberculosis.Treatment with streptomycin, isonicotinic acid and/or para-aminosalicylic acid should be started as soon as genitourinary tuberculosis is proved. Patients with advanced lesions usually receive great benefit from these medications; even though organisms may not be eliminated they are definitely diminished in activity. Excision of diseased organs or tissue may be necessary in a few cases.     

The Ulcerating Tuberculous Hilar Gland

In primary infection tuberculosis, the infected hilar gland(s) may cause involvement of peripheral lung tissue not only by pressure but also by rupture and discharge of caseous material into a bronchus. Atelectasis or lung infection or both may result and bronchiectasis may ensue.Early bronchoscopy is required when this form of tuberculosis fails to subside promptly under treatment.Bronchography is indicated to detect residual bronchiectasis which should be removed surgically.Three of six proved cases of Group A tuberculous tracheobronchitis caused by an ulcerating hilar gland required pulmonary resection for removal of residual bronchiectasis; two of these were complicated by atelectasis. All six patients are alive and well.     

PRIMARY PULMONARY RESECTION FOR TUBERCULOSIS—Medical and Economic Aspects in a Small Sanatorium

Twenty-eight patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in a small, tax-supported sanatorium were treated by primary pulmonary resection. In a comparison of results with those obtained in the same sanatorium by thoracoplasty and extrapleural pneumothorax, it was noted that in general the patients who had resection had earlier conversion of sputum to “negative” and had a shorter stay in hospital.Complications were not of sufficient frequency to contraindicate use of resection in cases in which there was doubt that thoracoplasty would be effective.The cost of hospitalization for surgical treatment and postoperative care was considerably less when resection was done than it was for either three-stage or two-stage thoracoplasty.     

伊曲康唑注射剂治疗伴有肺结核史的侵袭性真菌感染2例

目的报道2例伴有肺结核史的侵袭性真菌感染经伊曲康唑注射剂治疗经过,探讨伴有肺结核史患者的抗真菌治疗经验。方法例1为49岁＂支气管肺囊肿合并感染,陈旧性肺结核＂男性患者,诊断为侵袭性肺曲霉感染确诊病例。例2为51岁＂右侧自发性气胸,慢性阻塞性肺病,陈旧性肺结核＂男性患者,诊断为侵袭性肺念珠菌感染拟诊病例。均予伊曲康唑注射剂治疗2周结合抗细菌治疗,并作临床和真菌学疗效监测。结果治疗两周后两患者临床症状和体征均得到明显改善,标本真菌镜检转阴,培养仍为阳性。结论在有肺结核病史存在的侵袭性真菌感染抗真菌治疗时间可能需要延长。合理应用抗生素、激素,严格掌握用药指针、时机、剂量与疗程是控制真菌感染的重要因素。     

Location of intra- and extracellular M. tuberculosis populations in lungs of mice and guinea pigs during disease progression and after drug treatment

The lengthy treatment regimen for tuberculosis is necessary to eradicate a small sub-population of M. tuberculosis that persists in certain host locations under drug pressure. Limited information is available on persisting bacilli and their location within the lung during disease progression and after drug treatment. Here we provide a comprehensive histopathological and microscopic evaluation to elucidate the location of bacterial populations in animal models for TB drug development.To detect bacilli in tissues, a new combination staining method was optimized using auramine O and rhodamine B for staining acid-fast bacilli, hematoxylin QS for staining tissue and DAPI for staining nuclei. Bacillary location was studied in three animal models used in-house for TB drug evaluations: C57BL/6 mice, immunocompromised GKO mice and guinea pigs. In both mouse models, the bacilli were found primarily intracellularly in inflammatory lesions at most stages of disease, except for late stage GKO mice, which showed significant necrosis and extracellular bacilli after 25 days of infection. This is also the time when hypoxia was initially visualized in GKO mice by 2-piminidazole. In guinea pigs, the majority of bacteria in lungs are extracellular organisms in necrotic lesions and only few, if any, were ever visualized in inflammatory lesions. Following drug treatment in mice a homogenous bacillary reduction across lung granulomas was observed, whereas in guinea pigs the remaining extracellular bacilli persisted in lesions with residual necrosis. In summary, differences in pathogenesis between animal models infected with M. tuberculosis result in various granulomatous lesion types, which affect the location, environment and state of bacilli. The majority of M. tuberculosis bacilli in an advanced disease state were found to be extracellular in necrotic lesions with an acellular rim of residual necrosis. Drug development should be designed to target this bacillary population and should evaluate drug regimens in the appropriate animal models.     

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy: two cases with electron microscopic and viral studies.

Part I of this review described the pathogenesis of lung cancer and emphasized that it was largely a preventable disease. In the present paper, attention is drawn to the prevalent but false impression that treatment of established disease is quite in-effective. In eight consecutive series of cases (over 2300 patients) the authors have seen a change in the clinical environment in which lung cancer is treated—from one of discouragement and apathy to one of outspoken encouragement and enthusiasm.Complete preoperative assessment—an evaluation of the biology of the tumour-host relationship as well as technical resectability—avoids unnecessary surgical intervention and stimulates a trend to earlier referral. This has permitted increasing use of resection with a declining mortality and a continuing improvement in overall survival. On the basis of present resectability rates (37.5%) and a 39% five-year survival rate in those who have had curative resection, it is estimated that current over-all five-year salvage should exceed 13%. This is more than a five-fold increase in survival for all patients compared to that achieved by treatment before 1952.     

USE OF THE ROCKING BED TO AUGMENT VENTILATION IN PATIENTS WITH POLIOMYELITIS

As the first step in an attempt to clarify criteria for use of the rocking bed rather than the respirator as an aid to breathing for patients with weakness of respiratory muscle function caused by poliomyelitis, ventilation studies were done on seven patients with pronounced weakness or paralysis of the respiratory muscles. Average tidal air volume was considerably less when the patient was on the rocking bed than when he was in the respirator. Since the tidal air volume with the patient on the rocking bed represents the maximum that can be produced with the apparatus, whereas the volume in the respirator represents the patient''s usual tidal air and the respirator is capable of a greater volume if necessary, it is apparent that in cases of complete paralysis of the respiratory muscles the respirator has a large margin of safety, the rocking bed none.From clinical observations made on 51 patients who were put upon the rocking bed—23 of them early in the course of the disease and 28 after they had been ill three months or more—it was concluded that the rocking bed is contraindicated for patients who are febrile and in whom the disease is progressing rapidly, and for those with atelectasis or urinary or pulmonary infection. It must be used with extreme care in the case of patients early in the course of the disease who are not tracheotomized, because of a tendency toward increased accumulation of mucus and the danger of atelectasis.General guides were developed with regard to use of the rocking bed for patients with post-acute poliomyelitis, and somewhat different rules were drawn for use of the apparatus in cases in which there is a chronic respiratory problem.The rocking bed will give artificial respiration in cases of respiratory weakness, but will not provide enough tidal air for the patient with paralysis of the muscles of respiration.     

Miliary Tuberculosis in Adults

Of 40 adults with miliary tuberculosis 24 had “overt” disease; in them miliary mottling was usually present on the chest radiograph, and tubercle bacilli were readily isolated from sputum, urine, or cerebrospinal fluid. In the remaining 16 patients the disease was termed “cryptic” because its usual clinical and radiographic features were absent. This cryptic type is as common as the overt type in patients over 60 years. In this series the peak age incidence was in the eighth decade, and possibly this increase in the incidence age is due to the breakdown of old tuberculous foci in patients with diminished immunological mechanisms.Cryptic miliary tuberculosis is a difficult diagnostic problem and should be suspected in any elderly patient, particularly a woman, who has an unexplained pyrexia, pancytopenia, or leukaemoid reaction. In 10 cases it was diagnosed by a therapeutic trial with para-aminosalicylic acid and isoniazid, a fall of temperature to normal (usually within a week), weight gain, a rise in haemoglobin, and increased well-being being the criteria of improvement The use of such a trial is strongly advocated as a specific method of diagnosing cryptic miliary tuberculosis.     

Rib lesions in chronic pulmonary tuberculosis

The diagnosis of skeletal tuberculosis in human remains has traditionally been based upon the detection of secondary skeletal lesions which result from hemotogenous dissemination of tubercle bacilli (e.g., Pott's disease). Since such lesions develop in less than 7% of cases of human tuberculosis, the paleodemography and paleoepidemiology of this disease have been difficult to assess from skeletal remains. This study presents a new diagnostic approach to tuberculosis, focusing on the skeletal manifestations of chronic pulmonary disease (which comprises approximately 90% of human-form tuberculosis). Four hundred forty-five skeletal remains from persons dying of tuberculosis during the first half of the 20th century were examined. A total of 70/445 (16%) exhibited skeletal lesions in one or more locations as a response to infection. Of these 70, 39 (56%) were found to display a specific set of lesions restricted to the internal aspect of the ribs. These lesions take one of two forms: (1) diffuse periostitis or (2) localized abscess, and appear to correspond to areas of chronic pulmonary infection. The diffuse type of rib lesion is more commonly observed than the localized type. In our observations (and according to the natural history of tuberculosis) the occurrence of chronic pulmonary tuberculosis is usually mutually exclusive with hematogenous dissemination to secondary bone locations. Thus, the detection of rib lesions in cases of chronic pulmonary disease increases the absolute sample size of skeletal tuberculosis by a factor of two in this study.     

Genitourinary tuberculosis: study of 20 patients.

In the past year 20 new cases of genitourinary tuberculosis were referred for treatment at Wrightington Hospital. Many of these patients had waited a long time between diagnosis and referral and the start of effective treatment. We suggest that a new short course of chemotherapy should be used, and surgery undertaken during the first three months of treatment, but after the patient has had at least four weeks'' drug treatment. After chemotherapy follow-up may be reduced to two years. Genitourinary tuberculosis remains a serious disease and should be managed by a urologist.     

A Case of Human Hepatic Alveolar Echinococcosis Accompanied by Lung and Brain Metastases

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is considered as a fatal zoonosis caused by the larvae of Echinococcus multilocularis. The lungs and brain are the most common metastatic organs. We report a human case of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis accompanied by lung and brain metastasis. In particular, the patient had a history of tuberculosis and the lung lesions were easily misdiagnosed as lung abscesses. The lesions of liver and lung underwent radical resection and confirmed as alveolar echinococcosis by pathological examination. The patient had no surgical complications after operation and was discharged after symptomatic treatment. Unfortunately, the patient later developed multiple intracerebral AE metastases. We required the patient to take albendazole orally for life and follow up.     

Preventive treatment of tuberculin-negative contacts

Five children who had been in close contact with highly infectious tuberculous individuals presented recently to the tuberculosis service of The Montreal Children''s Hospital. Four had developed serious pulmonary tuberculosis and one tuberculous meningitis, all within the three months which followed a post-contact negative tuberculin test.The management of tuberculin-negative children recently exposed to active infectious tuberculosis by repeated skin tests and chest radiography alone is inadequate for their protection. These children are at high risk of developing disease by the time their tuberculin sensitivity has become evident. It is inadvisable to vaccinate them with BCG until three months after their last exposure to the disease. A plea is made for preventive chemotherapy in these cases.     

ARTHRITIS—The Use of Physical Therapy as an Aspect of Management

In some cases arthritis can be controlled even in the acute stage by physical therapy alone. In many cases, recovery depends on how thoroughly and intelligently such methods are applied.Heat, ultrasound and therapeutic baths relieve pain and spasm, permitting greater freedom in passive and active exercise. Exercise is necessary in maintaining and restoring function to arthritic limbs. Because the atrophy produced by rheumatoid arthritis is greater than that due to mere disuse for the same length of time, resistive exercise is especially valuable in building muscle, and this can be carried out even during active inflammation. Without exercise the muscles weaken and throw a greater burden on the already disabled joints.At the same time the patient must be relieved of undue stress and trauma by planned rest, splinting, bed posture and, later, crutches and other aids to ambulation. Efforts should be made to prevent contractures and deformities.Occupational therapy increases muscle strength, range of motion, work tolerance and mental status. A dynamic and carefully planned rehabilitation program hastens restoration of the patient''s independence and usefulness.