Background Most of the morbidity and mortality in nCovid19 is due to pneumonia which can be reduced by early diagnosis and treatment. Chest CT scan plays an important role in the early diagnosis and management of respiratory complications due to nCovid19. Clinicians should be aware about the indications for the CT scan of the thorax, timing of investigation, and limitations of CT. Main body of abstract Chest CT scan is indicated in patients with moderate to severe respiratory symptoms and pretest probability of nCovid19 infection, when RT-PCR test results are negative, and in patients for whom an RT-PCR test is not performed or not readily available. When a rapid antigen test is negative and an RT-PCR test report takes time, CT can be used in seriously ill patients to decide whether it is COVID or not. For patients who are dependent on oxygen even after 2 weeks, CT may help to show the extent of lung involvement and predict long-term prognosis. CT may be done to exclude nCovid19 pneumonia. For patients with high risk for nCovid19 who require an immediate diagnosis to rule out lung involvement, CT can be done. A normal CT excludes nCovid19 pneumonia. CT scan is required in confirmed cases of nCovid19 pneumonia when complications are suspected clinically. These include pulmonary thromboembolism, pneumothorax, mediastinal/surgical emphysema, bacterial pneumonia, and unexplained deterioration with new shadows in chest X-ray. CT pulmonary angiogram is indicated when pulmonary embolism is suspected, and in other cases, plain CT should be done. In pre-operative cases where emergency surgery is required, nCovid19 disease is suspected clinically, and RT-PCR report awaited or not available, CT thorax can be done. Conclusion CT scan is useful for early diagnosis of lung involvement, detection complications, triaging of cases, risk stratification, and preoperative evaluation in select cases. CT scan should be done only when there is a definite indication so to reduce radiation hazards and to reduce health care expenditure. Normal CT excludes nCovid19 lung involvement, but the patient may have upper respiratory involvement which may progress later to involve lungs.

No abstract

BACKGROUND Accurate staging is the cornerstone in management of lung cancer. It helps to determine the therapeutic modality and to assess prognosis. More than half of bronchogenic carcinomas have distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis. Presence of metastasis confers stage 4 for the disease. Presence of metastasis also increases patient morbidity and mortality. So the knowledge of pattern and sites of metastasis in bronchogenic carcinoma is crucial for its detection and management. Staging of bronchogenic carcinoma is one of the important indications for Positron Emission Tomography. Combined Computed tomography and PET (PET-CT) is superior to either modality alone in staging of lung cancer. It helps in identifying the site and morphology of lesion. Aims and Objectives-1. To determine the sites of metastases in Bronchogenic carcinoma by PETCT 2. To compare sites of metastases with the histological cell type MATERIALS AND METHODS It was a hospital based retrospective study involving 78 patients with histologically proven bronchogenic carcinoma who underwent PETCT scan from June 2016-May 2017 in A J Institute of medical sciences, Mangalore. The sites of metastasis were noted. Brain metastasis was not included as MRI is a more sensitive tool. The sites of metastases as determined by PETCT were compared with histological cell type of bronchogenic carcinoma.

The most common cause of hypercapnic respiratory failure is acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Many other factors can contribute to hypercapnia and may lead to refractory hypercapnia in AECOPD. One of the important causes is electrolyte imbalance. We report a case of refractory hypercapnic respiratory failure in an elderly female due to postthyroidectomy hypocalcemia. The patient responded well after the correction of hypocalcemia.

No abstract