Introduction: Patients with asthma-like symptoms pose a diagnostic dilemma when physical examination is normal. The usual practice in Malaysia would be to give empirical asthma treatment. Bronchial challenge test (BCT) is widely used in many countries to diagnose asthma objectively but it is not widely available in Malaysia. Objective: To describe our experience with BCT using methacholine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital as a supporting tool in the investigation of patients with asthma-like symptoms. Methodology: Review of case notes of patients who underwent BCT from July 2008 till April 2009. BCT was performed via dosimeter technique. Results were classified as high hyper responsiveness if the provocative dose of methacholine required to achieve 20% fall in FEV1 (PD20) was less than or equal to 0.125 μmol, moderate hyper responsiveness if PD20 was between 0.125 to 1.99 μmol or mild hyper responsiveness if PD20 was between 2.00 to 6.6 μmol. PD20 of more than 6.6 μmol constitutes a negative MCT. Results: 29 patients had BCT during the study period. 19 cases were included in this review. The age ranged from 13 to 70 years old. There were 12 males and 7 females. Duration of symptoms ranged from 2 weeks to 23 years. BCT was positive (mild or moderate hyper responsiveness) in 10 out of 19 patients. No patient had high bronchial hyper responsiveness. Conclusions: BCT is a useful adjunctive tool in the investigation of patients presenting with asthma-like symptoms. This test obviates empirical asthma treatment. BCT should be made available in all major hospitals in Malaysia.

Tuberculous pleural effusion (TBE) is a common encounterin our region. Up to 50% of patients with TBE will developresidual pleural thickening (RPT) which can lead tofunctional impairment. However, the need of drainageremains controversial. We report a case of end-stage renalfailure patient who presented with right multiloculatedtuberculous pleural effusion which was drained via amedical thoracoscope. Patient reports immediate relief ofbreathlessness post procedure and one month follow upshown significant improvement of RPT. We also discussedthe current perspective on the rationale of TBE drainage andthe role of medical thoracoscope in TBE management.

Primary lung malignancy presenting as empyema is rare, with a reported incidence of 0.3%. We report a case of a 60- year-old man presenting with unilateral pleural effusion; diagnostic thoracocentesis confirmed Salmonella empyema. Post-drainage, chest radiograph showed persisting right hemithorax opacity; subsequent computed tomography revealed a right lung mass with right upper lobe bronchus obliteration. Percutaneous biopsy confirmed advanced stage lung adenocarcinoma. We discuss the mechanism of post-obstructive pneumonia in lung cancerassociated empyema and the utility of bedside ultrasound in diagnosis of lung masses. Clinicians are alerted to the possibility of lung malignancy in elderly patients presenting with empyema.

Solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) always raises suspicion for early lung cancer, in which accurate and less invasive biopsy is needed. We report a case of transbronchial cryobiopsy of right upper lobe SPN under radial endobronchial ultrasound (R-EBUS) guidance after an inconclusive computed tomography guided transthoracic needle aspiration. A diagnosis of Stage 1B adenocarcinoma of the lung was made. Patient subsequently underwent curative right upper lobectomy after ruling out mediastinal lymph node involvement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of R-EBUS guided transbronchial cryobiopsy case reported from Malaysia.

Introduction: Pleural effusion is frequently encountered in respiratory medicine. However, despite thorough assessment including closed pleural biopsy, the cause of around 20% of pleural effusions remains undetermined. Medical thoracoscopy (MT) is the investigation of choice in these circumstances especially if malignancy is suspected. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic yield of MT in exudative pleural effusions in a single center from East Malaysia. Methods: Retrospective chart review of all adult patients who underwent MT for undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion in a 24-month duration. Results: Our cohort comprised of 209 patients with a median age of 61 years old (IQR 48.5-69.5). There were 92 (44%) patients with malignant pleural effusion (MPE) and 117 (56%) benign effusions; which included 85 tuberculous pleural effusion (TBE) and 32 cases of non-tuberculous exudative pleural effusion. Conclusive pathological diagnosis was made in 79.4% of the cases. For diagnosis of MPE, MT had a sensitivity of 89.1% (95% CI 80.4-94.3), specificity of 100% (95% CI 96.0-100.0), and positive predictive value (PPV) of 100% (95% CI 94.4-100) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 92.1% (95% CI 85.6-95.9). For TBE, MT had a sensitivity of 90.5% (95% CI 81.8-95.6), specificity of 100% (95% CI 96.3- 100.0) PPV of 100% (95% CI 94.1-100) and NPV of 93.9% (95% CI 88.0-97.2). Overall complication rate was 3.3%. Conclusions: MT showed excellent sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of exudative pleural effusion in this region. It reduces empirical therapy by providing histological evidence of disease when initial non-invasive investigations were inconclusive.