Search

A wide spectrum of pathological conditions may result from the interaction of Aspergillus fumigatus and the immune system of its human host. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis is one of the most severe A. fumigatus-related diseases due to possible evolution toward pleuropulmonary fibrosis and respiratory failure. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis occurs almost exclusively in cystic fibrosis or asthmatic patients. An estimated 8%-10% of patients with cystic fibrosis experience this condition. The diagnosis of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis relies on criteria first established in 1977. Progress in the understanding of host-pathogen interactions in A. fumigatus and patients with cystic fibrosis and the ongoing validation of novel laboratory tools concur to update and improve the diagnosis of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aspergillus fumigatus is the causative agent of allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis. Prompt and accurate diagnosis may be difficult to achieve with current clinical and laboratory scores, which do not include immune responses to recombinant A. fumigatus allergens. We measured specific immunoglobulin E and G4 directed to recombinant A. fumigatus allergens in 55 cystic fibrosis patients without allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis but sensitized to A. fumigatus and in nine patients with allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis (two with cystic fibrosis and seven with asthma). IgG4 responses to recombinant A. fumigatus allergens were detected in all patients, but neither prevalence nor levels were different between the two patient groups. On the other hand, both prevalence and levels of IgE responses to Asp f 3, Asp f 4, and Asp f 6 helped distinguish allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis from A. fumigatus sensitization with good negative and positive predictive values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients has led to the use of colistin drug and the emergence of colistin-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. The aim of this study was to compare the disk diffusion and Etest methods for colistin susceptibility testing on MDR bacteria associated with CF from Marseille, France. Forty-nine MDR clinical isolates (27 Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, 22 Achromobacter xylosoxidans) were used in this study. Disk diffusion and Etest assays were used to assess the reliability of these two techniques. For S. maltophilia, 25 out of 27 isolates had low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs, 0.125-0.75 mg/L), whereas two isolates displayed high MICs (32 mg/L). Similarly, 19 out of 22 A. xylosoxidans isolates had low MICs (0.75-3.0 mg/L), whereas three isolates had high MICs (32-256 mg/L). The diameters of zone inhibition with a 50-μg colistin disk displayed a good correlation with the MICs obtained by the Etest. Susceptible and resistant strains were eventually separated using a disk diffusion assay at a cut-off of ≤12 mm for a 50-μg disk. Colistin displayed excellent activity against S. maltophilia and A. xylosoxidans and the disk diffusion assay could be confidently used to determine the susceptibility to colistin for MDR Gram-negative bacteria in the context of CF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Within the past decade, biochemical markers have emerged as attractive tools to assess pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) prognosis, being noninvasive and easily repeatable.The objective of this study was to determine whether biomarkers measured at initial diagnostic right-sided heart catheterization predict 3-year all-cause mortality for incident cases of PAH independently of clinical and hemodynamic parameters.Methods: Patients with incident PAH were enrolled between December 2003 and April 2006 in six centers from the French Network on Pulmonary Hypertension and followed for 3 years.Venous blood samples were taken during right-sided heart catheterization, and analyses were centralized.Results: Among 110 enrolled patients, 11 underwent lung or heart/lung transplantation, and 27 died during follow-up. The Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival were 91%, 78%, and 75% at 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Plasma big endothelin-1 (hazard ratio [HR] per 1-SD increase, 1.48; 95% CI,1.14-1.92), serum troponin T . 0.01 mg/L (HR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.05-5.29), and urinary F 2 -isoprostanes(15-F2t -isoprostane) (HR per 1-SD increase, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.31-2.36) were associated with increased unadjusted hazard of death. In multivariate analysis adjusting for patient characteristics, the level of urinary F 2 -isoprostanes was the only biomarker that remained independently associated with increased hazard of death (HR per 1-SD increase, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.28-2.60).Conclusions: This study shows that levels of urinary F 2 -isoprostane, a biomarker of lipid peroxidation,quantified at initial diagnostic right-sided heart catheterization are independently associated with mortality in a cohort of patients with incident PAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burgel P-R, Fajac I, Hubert D, Grenet D, Stremler N, Roussey M, Siret D, Languepin J, Mely L, Fanton A, Labbé A, Domblides P, Vic P, Dagorne M, Reynaud-Gaubert M, Counil F, Varaigne F, Bienvenu T, Bellis G, Dusser D. Non-classic cystic fibrosis associated with D1152H CFTR mutation. Background: Limited knowledge exists on phenotypes associated with the D1152H cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator ( CFTR) mutation. Methods: Subjects with a D1152H allele in trans with another CFTR mutation were identified using the French Cystic Fibrosis Registry. Phenotypic characteristics were compared with those of pancreatic insufficient (PI) and pancreatic sufficient (PS) cystic fibrosis (CF) subjects in the Registry (CF cohort). Results: Forty-two subjects with D1152H alleles were identified. Features leading to diagnosis included chronic sinopulmonary disease ( n = 25), congenital absence of the vas deferens ( n = 11), systematic neonatal screening ( n = 4), and genetic counseling ( n = 2). Median age at diagnosis was 33 [interquartile range (IQR, 24–41)] years in D1152H subjects. Median sweat chloride concentrations were 43.5 (39–63) mmol/l in D1152H subjects and were markedly lower than in PI and PS CF subjects (p < 0.05). Bronchiectasis was present in 67% of D1152H subjects, but Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization and pancreatic insufficiency were present in <30% of subjects. Estimated rates of decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) were lower in D1152H subjects vs PI CF subjects (p < 0.05). None of the D1152H subjects identified since 1999 had died or required lung transplantation. Conclusions: When present in trans with a CF-causing mutation, D1152H causes significant pulmonary disease, but all subjects had prolonged survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an orphan disease for which the trend is for management in designated centers with multidisciplinary teams working in a shared-care approach.Objective: To describe clinical and hemodynamic parameters and to provide estimates for the prevalence of patients diagnosed for PAH according to a standardized definition.Methods: The registry was initiated in 17 university hospitals following at least five newly diagnosed patients per year. All consecutive adult ( 18 yr) patients seen between October 2002 and October 2003 were to be included.Main Results: A total of 674 patients (mean +/- SD age, 50 +/- 15 yr; range, 18-85 yr) were entered in the registry. Idiopathic, familial, anorexigen, connective tissue diseases, congenital heart diseases, portal hypertension, and HIV-associated PAH accounted for 39.2, 3.9, 9.5, 15.3, 11.3, 10.4, and 6.2% of the population, respectively. At diagnosis, 75% of patients were in New York Heart Association functional class III or IV. Six-minute walk test was 329 +/- 109 m. Mean pulmonary artery pressure, cardiac index, and pulmonary vascular resistance index were 55 +/- 15 mm Hg, 2.5 +/- 0.8 L/min/m[2], and 20.5 +/- 10.2 mm Hg/L/min/m[2], respectively. The low estimates of prevalence and incidence of PAH in France were 15.0 cases/million of adult inhabitants and 2.4 cases/million of adult inhabitants/yr. One-year survival was 88% in the incident cohort.Conclusions: This contemporary registry highlights current practice and shows that PAH is detected late in the course of the disease, with a majority of patients displaying severe functional and hemodynamic compromise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: The effect of graft ischemic time on early graft function and long-term survival of patients who underwent lung transplantation remains controversial. Consequently, graft ischemic time has not been incorporated in the decision-making process at the time of graft acceptance. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between graft ischemic time and (1) early graft function and (2) long-term survival after lung transplantation. Measurements and main results: The data from 752 patients who underwent single lung transplantation (n = 258), bilateral lung transplantation (n = 247), and heart-lung transplantation (n = 247) in seven French transplantation centers during a 12-year period were reviewed. Independent data quality control was done to ensure the quality of the collected variables. Mean graft ischemic time was 245.8 +/- 96.4 minutes (range 50-660). After adjustment on 11 potential confounders, graft ischemic time was associated with the recipient PaO[2]/FIO[2] ratio recorded within the first 6 hours and with long-term survival in patients undergoing single or double lung transplantation but not in patients undergoing heart-lung transplantation. The relationship between graft ischemic time and survival appears to be of cubic form with a cutoff value of 330 minutes. These results were unaffected by the preservation fluid employed. Conclusions: The results of this large cohort of patients suggest a close relationship between graft ischemic time and both early gas exchange and long-term survival after single and double lung transplantation. Such relationship was not found in patients undergoing heart-lung transplantation. The expected graft ischemic time should be incorporated in the decision-making process at the time of graft acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten years after right pneumonectomy for primary lung cancer, a 51 year old man developed a pulmonary artery stump thrombosis which produced microemboli in the remaining lung and, in turn, led to chronic pulmonary hypertension. This case strongly suggests that prolonged postoperative thromboembolic prophylaxis should be considered in patients undergoing right pneumonectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]