We performed immunoperoxidase stains on skin biopsies taken from nine patients with recurrent peripheral herpes simplex lesions at 12 h to 6 d after onset

At annual repeat CT screening, the finding of an isolated cystic airspace with increased wall thickness should raise the suspicion of lung cancer.

Asbestos increases lung cancer mortality among nonsmokers. Asbestosis further increases the lung cancer risk and, considered jointly with smoking, has a supra-additive effect. Insulators benefit greatly by quitting smoking.

A rapid PCR-based test for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis, the Roche AMPLICOR Mycobacterium tuberculosis test (AMPLICOR MTB), was evaluated. Results from AMPLICOR MTB were compared with culture results and the final clinical diagnosis for each patient. A total of 985 specimens from 372 patients were tested. When AMPLICOR MTB results were compared with resolved results, i.e., a specimen grew M. tuberculosis or was obtained from a patient with a clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for the AMPLICOR MTB test were 66.7, 99.6, 91.7, and 97.7%, respectively. These results were comparable to those obtained from culture. Test results were available approximately 6.5 h after specimen receipt in the laboratory. Our data demonstrate that AMPLICOR MTB will provide rapid, valuable information for the diagnosis and control of tuberculosis.

Pleural fibrosis due to asbestos exposure was fully appreciated considerably later than pulmonary interstitial fibrosis due to similar exposure. This is well exemplified by the fact that pleura face on was included in the International Labour Office's International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses only in the last revision of the Classification. The functional relevance of pleural fibrosis, in particular circumscribed pleural fibrosis, has remained controversial. Since pleural fibrosis can occur at various sites (diaphragmatic plaques, chest wall in profile and face on, mediastinal) and can be of different thickness and extent, a comprehensive integrative assessment of pleural fibrosis was undertaken in order to permit a quantitative study of relationships between pleural fibrosis and pulmonary function. This approach was used for chest X-ray films of 1,584 asbestos insulation workers examined (1981-1983); 1,185 (75%) had pleural fibrosis. The distribution pattern of the integrative pleural index was found to be different in the subgroup with circumscribed (n = 975) from that with diffuse (n = 197) pleural fibrosis, with a higher profusion of high INDEX values in the latter. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that there was a significant inverse relationship between forced vital capacity (FVC) and the integrative index of pleural fibrosis in the subgroup with circumscribed pleural fibrosis. In the subgroup with diffuse pleural fibrosis, the obliteration of costophrenic angle(s), even with pleural fibrosis of limited extent, resulted in marked decrement in FVC% predicted; higher values of INDEX did not result in additional significant reductions of FVC. In those with both parenchymal and pleural abnormalities (n = 862) the pleural index was found to make a significant contribution, independent of that of parenchymal abnormalities, to decrements of FVC. Since pleural fibrosis has gradually become the predominant radiologically detectable abnormality in asbestos exposed workers, establishing its quantifiable functional relevance is useful.