Lung disease is common among wild and managed populations of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus. The purpose of the study was to apply standardized techniques to the ultrasound evaluation of dolphin lungs, and to identify normal and abnormal sonographic findings associated with pleuropulmonary diseases. During a 5 yr period (2005 to 2010), 498 non-cardiac thoracic ultrasound exams were perf...

PURPOSE Patients with malignant mesothelioma or adenocarcinoma of the lung often present with respiratory complications associated with a malignant pleural effusion. Distinguishing between these malignancies is frequently problematic, as many of the clinical, cytologic, and histologic features of the diseases overlap. Following cytologic analysis of pleural effusions, subsequent confirmatory ti...

OBJECTIVE Health care databases are a valuable source for epidemiological research in respiratory diseases if diagnoses are valid. We validated the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) diagnosis of pleural empyema in the Danish National Registry of Patients (DNRP). METHODS We randomly selected hospitalized patients registered in the DNRP with a discharge diagnosis ...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify the participation of the coagulation system in the differential diagnosis of pleural effusions. INTRODUCTION Imbalance between immunologic and metabolic factors triggers a sequence of events resulting in pleural reactions and accumulation of fluid. The coagulation system, which is fundamental for the maintenance of homeostasis, contributes to th...

In this issue of the Journal, two groups of researchers with established experience in asbestos-induced respiratory disease, independently report on patients with prior occupational exposure to asbestos, who developed exuda-tive pleural effusion and/or pleural thickening, while being treated with bromocriptine for Parkinson's disease [1, 2]. Ultimately, the pleural changes were largely reversib...

BACKGROUND Pleural effusions can be caused by highly different underlying diseases and are characterized by complex interactions of various local and circulating cells as well as numerous soluble parameters like interleukins (IL). Knowledge of this complex network can be helpful in order to make the differential diagnosis in known malignant pleural effusions and understand the underlying immuno...

BACKGROUND The study aimed to determine the short and long-term effects of exercise training on exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) compared to usual care in people with dust-related pleural and interstitial respiratory diseases. No previous studies have specifically evaluated exercise training in this patient population. METHODS Participants with a diagnosis of a dus...

Antibodies were specifically purified, with the use of pleural fluid antigens entrapped in a polyacrylamide gel as immunoadsorbent, from a pool of sera from patients with breast cancer and from the pleural effusion of an individual patient. The purified antibodies were radioiodinated and tested for capacity to bind to the pleural fluid adsorbent. Binding of the radiolabeled antibodies was inhib...

OBJECTIVE To report our preliminary experience using pleuroscopy for patients with pleural diseases. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Tertiary referral hospital with service input from respiratory physicians and cardiothoracic surgeons in Hong Kong. PATIENTS Between April and November 2007, patients with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusions and proven malignant pleural effusion...