We herein report a case of a 67-year-old woman previously treated with erlotinib for adenocarcinoma with an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation in exon 19, which rapidly developed to progressive symptomatic leptomeningeal carcinomatosis. The primary tumor and lung metastases also worsened and the performance status (PS) score declined to 3. With a re-biopsy from the pulmonary metastases, the T790M mutation was detected by the cobas EGFR mutation test, but not the cycleave test, although an exon 19 deletion was detected by both of the tests. A week after afatinib initiation, the neurological symptoms disappeared and the PS improved to 1 with a radiological response in all disease sites. Chest physicians should consider the use of afatinib for patients with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis from 1st-generation EGFR-TKI resistant adenocarcinoma, regardless of the PS score and the presence of the T790M mutation in the extracranial lesion.

A 78-year-old man with a history of surgical resection for ameloblastoma 31 years earlier visited our hospital for prolonged cough. Chest computed tomography showed multiple nodules in both lungs. Although there was no local recurrence in the mandible, the specimen taken from a transbronchoscopic bronchial biopsy showed recurrent ameloblastoma. Despite receiving no treatment, the disease in our patient remained clinically stable for 8.4 years. Chest physicians should be aware that pulmonary malignant ameloblastoma can first relapse several decades after curative surgery. In addition, pulmonary malignant ameloblastoma without local recurrence may be associated with a good prognosis.

A 75-year-old woman who had been taking methotrexate presented to our hospital for fever and dry cough. Chest computed tomography showed ground-glass opacity in the upper lobe of the right lung and foreign bodies in the lower lobe of the right bronchus. During bronchoscopy, foreign bodies were removed from the airway. We found increased levels of lymphocytes and a high CD4/CD8 ratio in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Transbronchial lung biopsy revealed lymphocytic infiltration. Methotrexate was discontinued, and the imaging findings improved. Methotrexate-induced lung injury does occur unilaterally. Foreign bodies in the airway might also trigger unilateral methotrexate-induced lung injury.

In the present study, when 13 patients who were classified as having moderate COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) with percutaneous oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) levels of ≤ 93% while receiving ≥ 3 L/min of oxygen therapy were placed in an awake prone position during therapy, SpO 2 levels increased in 11 patients. There were no differences in age, sex, or blood test results between the group in which improvements were observed while receiving treatment in the prone position alone and the group that required subsequent mechanical ventilation. However, chest computed tomography (CT) showed lesions in the center of the dorsal side in the former and from the dorsal to the ventral side in the latter. If lesions are located in the center of the dorsal side on chest CTs, mechanical ventilation management may be avoided by placing patients in the awake prone position during therapy.

No abstract