Case Reports in Archivos de Bronconeumología: The Journal’s Butterfly Collection

The considerable progress made in biomedical research in the last century has changed our perception of diseases. As we have come to understand their pathophysiological mechanisms, we have developed more effective ways to combat diseases and many can now be totally or partially cured. As a result, most inhabitants of Western societies have gradually abandoned the attitude expressed by the character in the above quotation: in the modern era cure is not considered miraculous, but rather scientific. However, routine clinical practice presents us with occurrences that neither the experts nor their books can really explain. This does not mean that we are seeing multiple daily miracles: it merely shows how little we still know in many fields and alerts us to the need to continue to extend our knowledge. Such apparent miracles are collected in the Case Reports section of Archivos de Bronconeumología. A noteworthy characteristic of each report is that it presents events that are in some way exceptional. We might say they are like those butterflies with long wings and unique colors that have fascinated us since childhood. The purpose of this review is to create a “butterfly collection” with which to review briefly each of the clinical events reported in the journal in 2007, with the final objective of calling attention to those disease processes that still challenge our understanding.