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Background: After general anesthesia, decrease of functional residual capacity and lung compliance, ventilation/perfusion imbalance, and transpulmonary shunting can provoke hypoxemia during postoperative periods. Diaphragmatic dysfunction may be the main cause of these physiological abnormalities. Thus, we evaluated the change of pulmonary function after general anesthesia according to the operative sites, which could suggest clinical course and critical period of respiratory care of postoperative patients. Method: Preoperative portable spirometric evaluation and arterial blood gas analysis were performed at sitting or most-sitting position just previous day of surgery. Pulmonary function tests were also as same condition from postoperative day 1 to day 5. Results: 1) For thoracic surgery, FEV1 and FVC were not recovered at day 5, but FEV1/FVC was not decreased. was slightly elevated at postoperative one day. 2) After upper abdominal surgery, postoperative day 5 did not show the recovery of FEV1 and FVC, but mild hypoxemia was developed at postoperative day 1. 3) Pulmonary function was recovered as preoperative value at postoperative day 5 in lower abdominal operation, but mild hypoxemia was also noted at postoperative day 1. 4) Surgery of peripheral areas did not show significant pulmonary function change and hypoxemia and hypercapnia from postoperative day 1. Conclusion: Surgery involving diaphragm provoke significant postoperative pulmonary function change after day 5. For the operation of peripheral sites adequate respiratory care during operation and postoperative period within 24 hours could prevent patients from respiratory complication.

Background: In recent reports, it has been reported that increased coagulation and decreased fibrinolytic activity has been responsible for abnormal fibrin turnover in exudative pleural effusion. In the cases of empyema, the fibrinopurulent stage is characterized by the fibrin deposition resulting in formation of limiting membranes in the visceral and parietal pleura. Recently attention has been focused on intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy capable of removing intrapleural fibrin deposits by urokinase (UK) in the treatment of empyema. However, these clinical trials have provided the clinical evidences for resolution of pleural loculation after intrapleural urokinase injection (UK-injection), the profiles of fibrinolytic activity following the treatment were still not investigated. Therefore in order to demonstrate the fibrinolytic evidences behind the clinical efficacy of intracavitary UK-injection, we examined intrapleural plasminogen activator activity (PA-activity) and D-dimer (D-Di) concentrations before and after each repeated UK-injection into the pleura in subjects with loculated empyema cavity. Methods: In a group of 14 patients with multiple loculated empyema cavity, PA-activity and D-Di concentrations were measured before and after repeated UK-injection. One hundred thousand IU of UK was injected at each time and all sujects had at least two times of UK injection accoring to clinical decisions. Nine out of 14 sujects had three times of UK-injection. Results: The mean () PA-activity prior to treatemnt was and it was increased to IU tPA/ml after first, second and third time of UK-injection respectively (p to ng/ml in the same order as above (p

There is a small portion of interstitial pneumonia which presents acute respiratory failure developing within several days. The course of illness is short and most patients die within weeks or months. This type of interstitial pneumonia has been variously termed Hamman-Rich syndrome, accelerated interstitial pneumonia, or the organizing stage of diffuse alveolar damage. We experienced a case of acute interstitial pneumonia in 42-year old female who showed clinical, radiological and histologic features of acute interstitial pneumonia without any identified etiologic agent.

Background: The Microbicidal and cytotoxic activities of neutrophils are to a large extent dependent on a burst of oxidative metabolism which generates superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, and other reactive products of oxygen. The respiratory burst of PMN is initiated by intracellular calcium mobilization that follows immune or particular stimulation and is very sensitive to modulation by c-AMP or adenosine. Despite its antagonism against adenosine, earlier study has demonstrated potent theophylline inhibition of the PMN respiratory burst at variable ranges of blood concentrations of theophylline in the healthy normal volunteers and in the septic animals pretreated or early post-treated with aminophylline (AMPH) or pentoxifylline. However it is unclear whether theophylline inhibits the superoxide generation or not in the established human sepsis caused by acute pneumonia, as taking into consideration of the fact that full activation of neutrophils have occurred within minutes after the septic insult in the animal experiments. Methods: We measured the generation of peripheral arterial neutrophils obtained from 11 human septic subjects caused by acute pneumonia before and 1 hour after completion of continuous AMPH infusion. Patients were identified and studied within 48 hour of admission. All subjects were administered an intravenous loading and maintenance dose of AMPH. The generation of was measured at a discrete time point (60 min) by the reduction of ferricytochrome c.PMA (10 ) was used as a stimulating agent. PMNs were isolated at a concentration of cells/ml. The arterial oxygen tension, blood pressure and heart rates were also checked to evaluate the systemic effects of AMPH in the acute pneumonia. Results: The mean serum concentration of AMPH at 60 minutes was . Sixty minutes after AMPH infusion the generatition of was decreased from to (OD) (p to (OD) (p was not changed after AMPH infusion. Conclusion: AMPH may compromise host defense by significant inhibition of neutrophil release of superoxide anion and it had no effect on improving in the acute pneumonia.

Polymyositis (PM) is a inflammatory connective tissue disease involving predominantly skeletal muscles, characterized by symmetrical, proximal muscle weakness, inflammation, and frequently, degeneration. Interstitial lung disease in association with PM occurs in 5~10% of cases and carries an especially grave prognosis. Although the cause of lung involvement in PM is not known, the underlying pathologic process in the lung is an immune mediated inflammation of alveolar structures, alveolitis. It is of interest, therefore, that cyclophosphamide, an immune modulating agent, has been reported to be effective in the treatment of PM. We report a case of corticosteroid resistant PM associated with interstitial lung disease, successfully treated with cyclophosphamide. A 37-year-old female was presented with 8 months duration of cough, exertional dyspnea, and muscle weakness. She had typical symptoms, physical findings, and elevated muscle enzyme levels in serum with characteristic findings of muscle biopsy. She also had typical interstitial lung disease pattern on chest X-ray and high resolution CT with restrictive pattern on pulmonary function test. The findings of transbronchial lung biopsy was compatible with interstitial lung disease. She failed to respond to corticosteroid initially. Subsequently steroids and cyclophosphamide were given with excellent clinical improvement.

A 51-year-old male was admitted due to mediastinal mass. Chest PA showed a cm sized round mass on right lower paratracheal area. The chest computerized tomogram showed cystic mass located between superior vena cava and trachea. This cystic mass was composed of variable internal architecture with Hounsfield unit(HU) from -44.4 to +25.5. The resected cystic mass revealed ectodermal, mesodermal, and endodermal structures. We report a case of anterior mediastinal cystic teratoma confirmed by open thoracotomy.

BOOP is a clinopathologic entity consisting of a flu-like illness, late inspiratory crackles, and pathologically granulation tissue plugs within lumens of small airways sometimes with complete obstruction of small airways and granulation tissue extending into alveolar ducts and alveoli with a variable degree of interstitial infiltration of mononuclear cells and accumulation of foamy macrophages in alveolar spaces in a patch distribution, and preservation of background architecture of the lung. It has patch infiltrates roentgenographically, and restrictive ventilatory defect pysiologically such as decreased vital capacity. and diffusing capacity. The BOOP has been observed in the context of collagen vascular disease, and other autoimmune disease secondary to treatment with penicillamine, bleomycin, acebutolol and amiodarone, following the inhalation of toxic fumes, after several infections including measles, pertussis and influenza and idiopathic. Clinically, response to coricosteroid therapy is good and relapse dose not occur if sufficient theraphy is good. A flu-like illness occurs in one third, cough in one third, cough with dyspnea in the remaining patients. Hemoptysis are rare. The physical examination reveales dry crackles in the majority of the patients with BOOP but rarely associated with wheezing. The duration of illness is less than 2 months in 75% of patients. With a brief review of literature, we report a case of the BOOP which is good response to steroid, but frequent relapse and assoicated with wheezing.

Background: The lung abscess predominantly occurs on a dependent region, because its major predisposing factor is aspiration. However, a lung abscess appeared on a nondependent region occasionally. Traditionally bronchoscopy has been performed in patients with lung abscess on a nondependent region for evaluating the endobronchial obstruction such as bronchogenic carcinoma. But the clinical characteristics and necessities of bronchoscopy in patients with lung abscess located at nondependent region have not been discussed previously. Thus, we investigated the underlying etiologies and the necessities of bronchoscpy in patients with lung abscess in a nondependent region. Method: Fifteen patients with cavitary lesion on a nondependent location have been studied retrospectively by reviewing their clinical records, chest PAs, computerized tomograms, and bronchoscopic findings. Results: 1) Most patients were older than 30 years except one, and their mean age was 51 years. The ratio of male to female was 6.5:1. 2) The underlying etiologies were bacterial infections in 13 cases, and tuberculous infection in two cases. However, bronchogenic carcinoma was not found as its etiology. 3) Among thirteen bacterial lung abcess, tweleve cases located at right middle lobe. 4) The findings of bronchoscopy were non-speicifc mucosal change in 8 cases and segmental obstructions in 2 cases. There were no malignant evidences in the finings of cytology and bronchscopic biopsy. 5) Among thirteen bacterial lung abcess, eleven patients showed good clinical reponse to antibiotic therapy. Conclusion: The necessity of early bronchoscopy may need to be re-evaluated in the lung abscess on a nondependent region, unless evidences of bronchial obstruction or bronchogenic carcinoma exist. The pulmonary tuberculosis shoud be regarded as the underlying etiology of the nondependent lung abscess.

Background : Mycoplasma pneumonia (M. pneumonia) is a major cause of atypical pneumonia, and its incidence is predominantly at childhood and early adulthood. In contrast, the incidence of adult patients with M. pneumonia has been known to be low. Furthermore the clinical aspects of M. pneumonia are different from those of community acquired pneumonia. Thus, we evaluated the clinical aspects of M. pneumonia in the adult patients. Method : Mycoplasma antibody and cold agglutination tests were performed in patients with clinically suspected pneumonia who had abnormal infiltrations on chest P-A. The 12 patients with pneumonia, who fulfilled entry criteria of more than 1:64 of cold agglutination titer and 1:40 of mycoplasma antibody titer or four-fold increase of mycoplasma antibody titer during one week, were analyzed in terms of clinical aspects. Results : 1) Twelve patients, male 3 and female 9, were included in this study. The peak incidence was teenager. 2) M. pneumonia occured perennially, but predominantly between June to October in eight patients. 3) The main symptoms were fever, coughing, sputum. 4) The main patterns of chest P-A were bronchopneumoina in 8 cases, and involved lesion were nearly both lower lobe. Conclusion : The clinical aspects with Mycoplasma pneumonia in adult patients were different from those of community acquired pneumonia.