Valvular endocarditis was diagnosed during a routine flock screen for ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA) in 10-month-old ewe lamb with 2-month history of weight loss. Ultrasound examination demonstrated right caudoventral pleuritis presenting as hyperechoic thickening the pleura and irregular lesions measuring approximately 12–15 mm, replacing normal tricuspid mitral valves. The sheep euthana...

Introduction Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a systemic autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurrent attacks of fever and sterile peritonitis, pleuritis, arthritis or erysipelas-like erythema. Symptoms related with FMF can begin at very early ages of life. However, since most symptoms related to FMF are often well-known only when children become more verbal, and fever in children i...

A 44 year old female nurse with a 20-year history of severe, steroid-dependent asthma, hypertension, hematuria, pleuritis, and sinusitis was referred from her ophthalmologist in January 2000, with the question of possible bilateral scleritis. The patient was treated with topical steroid (prednisolone acetate 6 times daily) for anterior uveitis, systemic prednisone (50mg per os) and steroid inha...

OBJECTIVE The pathophysiology of shrinking lung syndrome (SLS) is poorly understood. We sought to define the structural basis for this condition through the study of pulmonary mechanics in affected patients. METHODS Since 2007, most patients evaluated for SLS at our institutions have undergone standardized respiratory testing including esophageal manometry. We analyzed these studies to define...

PURPOSE To determine the toxicities, maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and pharmacokinetics of the recombinant immunotoxin SS1P (anti-mesothelin dsFv-PE38) in patients with mesothelin-expressing cancers. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN SS1P given as a 30-min i.v. infusion every other day (QOD) for six or three doses was administered to 34 patients with advanced mesothelioma (n = 20), ovarian (n = 12), and pan...

UNLABELLED Increased pleural fluid adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity is classically associated with tuberculous pleuritis. However, increased activity can also occur in a number of other diseases and this may negatively affect the diagnostic utility of ADA measurements and decrease its specificity for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). The presence of ADA in pleural fluids reflects the cellul...

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the frequency of Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) related pleural effusions in the patients who hospitalized for pleural effusion. Methods: 123 adult patients with pleural effusion were included in the study. In addition to demographic data clinical, radiological/scintigraphic imaging , bronchoscopical findings, cytological, histopathological, biochemical analy...

Absence of a perfect reference test is an acknowledged source of bias in diagnostic studies. In the case of tuberculous pleuritis, standard reference tests such as smear microscopy, culture and biopsy have poor sensitivity. Yet meta-analyses of new tests for this disease have always assumed the reference standard is perfect, leading to biased estimates of the new test's accuracy. We describe a ...

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung has poor prognosis and survival statistics. The aim of this study was to determine the possible clinical benefit of Soma and MSQ-11 nutritional supplements in a case of an inoperable squamous cell lung carcinoma. Method: The regime of nutritional products was administered as follows: Soma extract 1 ml BID for six weeks, MSQ-11 1 tbsp TID for one m...