OBJECTIVE To establish the association between airway inflammation and severity of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in children. METHODS Consecutive children presenting with symptoms suggestive of OSA were recruited. They completed a sleep apnoea symptom questionnaire, underwent physical examination, spirometry, sputum induction and an overnight polysomnography. Adequate sputum contained <50% s...

BACKGROUND/AIM Endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB) is a specific type of pulmonary tuberculosis which often affect the tracheobronchial tree, and can be microbiologically and/or pathohistologically confirmed. The aim of the study was to determine the clinical features and diagnostic aspects of EBTB. METHODS This retrospective study was conducted at the Clinic for Lung Diseases, Clinical Center ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE It has been reported that tobacco smoking slows the sterilisation of sputum culture in pulmonary tuberculosis, but the factors that could delay culture conversion in patients who smoke are not known. Our aim is to identify the factors influencing sputum culture conversion in smokers with pulmonary tuberculosis. METHODS Ninety-nine patients with a smoking history and d...

BACKGROUND We aimed to determine the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) amongst the adult population in 2010-2011 in Pakistan. METHOD A nationwide cross-sectional survey with multistage cluster sampling was conducted among adults (≥15 years) in 95 clusters in 2010-2011. All consenting participants were screened for cough and by chest X-ray. Participants with presumptive TB submitted tw...

A 20-year-old man with no significant past medical history presented to the emergency department complaining of cough for two months. The cough, productive of greenyellow sputum, had gradually worsened over the two months prior to presentation. He also complained of subjective fevers, night sweats, fatigue, and a 15-pound weight loss over this period. The patient denied any history of hemoptysi...

BACKGROUND Lung cancer is a substantial public health problem in western countries. Previous studies have examined different screening strategies for lung cancer but there have been no published systematic reviews. METHODS A systematic review of controlled trials was conducted to determine whether screening for lung cancer using regular sputum examinations or chest radiography or computed tom...

BACKGROUND Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly described form of atypical pneumonia linked to a novel coronavirus. AIMS To review the sputum cytology of 15 patients who fulfilled the World Health Organisation clinical criteria for SARS in an attempt to evaluate whether early diagnosis is feasible with routine sputum examination. METHODS All sputum samples from patients with ...

Current international tuberculosis (TB) guidelines recommend the microscopic examination of three sputum specimens for acid-fast bacilli in the evaluation of persons suspected of having pulmonary TB. We conducted a systematic review of studies that quantified the diagnostic yield of each of three sputum specimens. By searching multiple databases and sources, we identified a total of 37 eligible...

BACKGROUND Cytologic examination of specimens obtained from the respiratory tract is a lung cancer diagnostic procedure with high specificity but moderate sensitivity. The use of molecular biomarkers may enhance the sensitivity of cytologic examination in the detection of lung cancer. METHODS Complement factor H, a protein secreted by lung cancer cells, was quantified in a series of bronchoal...