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Objective: This study aimed to determine whether preresection serum CRP level independently predicts survival among patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer., Methods: Clinical, pathologic, and laboratory data from 300 patients operated on for non-small cell lung cancer in a single institution were studied in univariate and multivariate survival analyses. Validation was sought in another cohort of 68 similar patients from another institution., Results: In the main cohort, preoperative CRP value was 3 mg/L or lower in 136 patients (45.3%), between 4 and 20 mg/L in 89 (29.7%), and greater than 20 in 64 (21.3%). CRP level was significantly associated with chronic bronchitis, hypoalbuminemia, pathologic stage, and peritumoral vascular emboli. Overall, 5-year survivals of patients with preoperative CRP 3 mg/L or lower, between 4 and 20 mg/L, and greater than 20 mg/L were 55.6%, 45.6%, and 40.0%, respectively (P = .0571). In multivariate analysis, CRP level greater than 20 was significantly associated with survival, but with significant interaction between CRP level and disease stage (P = .02). Patients in stage I or II disease with CRP levels greater than 20 had worse survival than did patients with undetectable CRP (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.874; 95% confidence interval, 1.039-3.381); the difference was not significant in stages III and IV. In the validation series, CRP level greater than 20 mg/L also predicted worse survival (P = .018)., Conclusions: Preoperative CRP level greater than 20 mg/L is significantly associated with worse survival than undetectable CRP in patients with stage I or II non-small cell lung cancer., (Copyright © 2011 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To study the prognosis and complications of cocaine body-packing (concealment of cocaine in the body for transportation between countries)., Design: We retrospectively reviewed the files of all cocaine body-packers hospitalized during a 4-year period in a medico-judiciary emergency unit. Subjects included in the survey were identified from the hospital databases using ICD-10 codes., Setting: The Medico-Judiciary Emergency Unit of Hôtel-Dieu university hospital in Paris is a unique medical and surgical emergency unit receiving all patients in legal custody arrested at the two Paris international airports and suspected of body-packing., Patients: All the cases of cocaine body-packers (n=581) hospitalized between January 1999 and December 2002 were studied. They had been arrested at Paris airports while arriving from drug-producing countries., Results: The mean number of carried packets was 70.0+/-20.4 (range 18-150). The mean duration of hospitalization was 5.0+/-1.6 days (range 1-18). No complication occurred in 573 body-packers cases. Eight subjects developed a complication requiring admission to an intensive care unit: six acute cocaine intoxications due to packet rupture and two intestinal occlusions. No one died. Surgical treatment was necessary in six cases., Conclusions: Good prognosis observed in these body-packers cases is due to the careful monitoring of asymptomatic patients, allowing early detection and treatment of complications. Surgical removal of the packets when complication occurs is warranted.