Necropsy specimens were obtained from the lungs of 10 subjects who had no history of lung disease, 10 who had died with chronic bronchitis, and 10 with bronchiectasis. Tissue sections were stained for IgA1 or IgA2 using the immunoperoxidase technique, and the number of cells in the bronchi stained for these proteins was counted. The total number of IgA positive cells was increased in bronchitic...

Plastic bronchitis is a rare disease characterized by the recurrent formation of branching mucoid bronchial casts that are large and more cohesive than those that occur in ordinary mucus plugging. Casts may vary in size and can be spontaneously expectorated, but some require bronchoscopy for removal. Plastic bronchitis can therefore present as an acute life-threatening emergency if obstruction ...

Plastic bronchitis is a rare life-threatening complication of Fontan operation. When medical treatment is ineffective in the setting of high systemic venous pressures, Fontan fenestration may be considered to decompress venous pressures and improve cardiac output by creation of the right-to-left shunting. However, transcatheter approach can be difficult in patients with complex venous anatomy. ...

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is considered as one of the factors leading to pulmonary hypertension in patients with chronic bronchitis, but the magnitude and the variability of the pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia in these patients have not been well established. We investigated the pulmonary hemodynamic changes induced by breathing two hypoxic mixtures (FIO2 = 0.15 and 0.13) in 26 ...

men and 13 % of the women had chronic bronchitis. The prevalence of chronic bronchitis was related to current cigarette smoking in both sexes, and to socio-economic status in men. Chronic bronchitis was a contributory cause of disabling dyspnoea and recurrent chest illness in half of the subjects with these symptoms. Significant radiological evidence of tuberculosis was found in 9% of men and i...

Plastic bronchitis or cast bronchitis is a rare disease of unclear etiology characterized by formation of airway casts that can lead to life-threatening airway obstruction. There is currently limited data regarding optimal treatment of plastic bronchitis. Several therapies have been suggested, but recurrences are common and mortality remains high. We report the case of a 6-year-old boy with ref...

Chronic bronchitis is a frequent underlying disease in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). It is unclear to what extent an impaired or exaggerated innate immune response contributes to disease manifestations and severity. To assess the role of neutrophil activation and recruitment during acute pneumonic episodes, peripheral polymorphonulcear neutrophil (PMN) activation, chemotactic activity, in...

Non-invasive measurements of right and left ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF, LVEF) by multiple-gated equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography were performed in 18 control subjects, 16 patients with angina pectoris, and 45 patients with hypoxic chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The mean RVEF in the control subjects was 0.62 +/- 0.09 (SD), which was not significantly different from the mean ...

BACKGROUND Although the overuse of antibiotics and underuse of bronchodilators for treatment of acute bronchitis is well known, few studies have analyzed these trends in the emergency department (ED). STUDY OBJECTIVES To characterize the antibiotic and bronchodilator prescribing practices of physicians at two academic EDs in the diagnosis of acute bronchitis, and to identify factors that may ...

BACKGROUND Although Lebanon is a highly polluted country, so far no study has specifically been designed to assess the association between outdoor air pollution and chronic bronchitis in this country. OBJECTIVE To assess the association between exposure to outdoor air pollution and chronic bronchitis in Lebanon. METHODS A pilot case-control study was conducted in two tertiary care hospitals...