The data of Casale and associates for nonatopic asymptomatic cigarette smokers and nonsmokers with and without asthma were used for the analysis. The nonsmoking nonasthmatic group excluded patients with an atopic or allergic background or with positive skin tests. Sensitivity (SE) is defined as the fraction of patients with the disease who have a positive test. [...]
Continue reading " Post-Test Probability of Asthma Following Methacholine Challenge: METHODS "
Tistamine and methacholine inhalation challenge are used extensively to determine bronchial reactivity and the likelihood of asthma in patients in whom the diagnosis is not obvious. Critical analyses, however, have shown that, as with all laboratory tests, there is overlap of results for normal and abnormal subjects. This overlap forces the physician to use decision [...]
Continue reading " Post-Test Probability of Asthma Following Methacholine Challenge "
At variance with Pa02st and Ve, which tended to return toward normal as a consequence of the progressive recovery of perfusion during the first week or the first month, the P(A-a)02, P(a-A)C02, and Vd/ Vt%, even after appropriate treatment, showed the persistence of some abnormalities six months later. The incomplete recovery of perfusion and of [...]
Continue reading " Natural Course of Treated Pulmonary Embolism: DISCUSSION part 2 "
The recovery of pulmonary perfusion after embolism may be influenced by several factors, such as prompt and adequate treatment, recurrence of emboli, and underlying pulmonary pathologic abnormalities. Therefore, an accurate follow-up of patients, both in the early stages after embolization and later on, is clinically helpful. Previous reports show that perfusion lung scintigraphy, owing to [...]
Continue reading " Natural Course of Treated Pulmonary Embolism: DISCUSSION "
Mean values (±1 SD) of ULSs and of pulmonary gas exchange parameters in the acute phase of pulmonary embolism are reported in the following tabulation: At this time, the mean number of ULSs was 11.3 ±2.6, showing that the fraction of the pulmonary arterial tree obstructed by emboli was 63 percent on the average (18 [...]
Continue reading " Natural Course of Treated Pulmonary Embolism: RESULTS "
Chest Roentgenogram The chest roentgenogram was obtained in the upright position. X-ray tube conditions were set to keep the exposure time to a minimum for each roentgenogram (0.05 s) and were kept constant in successive roentgenograms. Chest x-ray films were read by three observers according to a standardized reading sheet. The following roentgenographic findings, as [...]
Continue reading " Natural Course of Treated Pulmonary Embolism: MATERIALS AND METHODS part 2 "
Our study was performed in 33 nonconsecutive patients (17 men and 16 women; mean age, 57 ± 14 years) who were admitted to our ICU with a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. In 21 of them (64 percent), the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism was initially made on the basis of the presence of multiple, large segmental [...]
Continue reading " Natural Course of Treated Pulmonary Embolism: MATERIALS AND METHODS "
