Adult ; Bronchi ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Bronchial Diseases ; etiology ; pathology ; Female ; Hemoptysis ; etiology ; pathology ; Humans ; Young Adult

The bronchoarterial (BA) ratio measured with computed tomography is widely used in human medicine to diagnose bronchial dilation or collapse. Although use of the BA ratio in veterinary medicine has been recently studied, this has not been evaluated in brachycephalic dogs predisposed to bronchial diseases including bronchial collapse. The purpose of this study was to establish BA ratios for brachycephalic dogs and compare the values with those of non-brachycephalic dogs. Twenty-three brachycephalic dogs and 15 non-brachycephalic dogs without clinical pulmonary disease were evaluated. The BA ratio of the lobar bronchi in the left and right cranial as well as the right middle, left, and right caudal lung lobes was measured. No significant difference in mean BA ratio was observed between lung lobes or the individual animals (p = 0.148). The mean BA ratio was 1.08 +/- 0.10 (99% CI = 0.98~1.18) for brachycephalic dogs and 1.51 +/- 0.05 (99% CI = 1.46~1.56) for the non-brachycephalic group. There was a significant difference between the mean BA ratios of the brachycephalic and non-brachycephalic groups (p = 0.00). Defining the normal limit of the BA ratio for brachycephalic breeds may be helpful for diagnosing bronchial disease in brachycephalic dogs.
Animals ; Bronchial Arteries/*anatomy & histology ; Craniosynostoses/pathology/radiography/*veterinary ; Dog Diseases/pathology/*radiography ; Dogs ; Female ; Lung Diseases/etiology/*veterinary ; Male ; Reference Values ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*veterinary

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the specific CT characteristics and the endoscopic findings of primary tracheobronchial amyloidosis (PTBA) for improvement of the diagnostic accuracy.
 METHODS: The imaging features of 6 patients with PTBA were analyzed by multiplanar reconstructed CT and the fiberoptic bronchoscope, and the pathology were summarized retrospectively.
 RESULTS: All PTBA patients received bronchoscopic examination and the definite diagnosis were confirmed by positive staining with Congo red. PTBA presented diffuse thickening of major airway and lumen stenosis in various degrees with scattered hemorrhage of the mucous membrane under CT and bronchoscope, which was more obvious in low part of trachea, main bronchus and lobar bronchus. The mucosa of trachea and bilateral main bronchi were irregular and bumpy with jutting nodes in 5 patients, which was called "wavy path" pattern. Widely nodular or stripy calcifications of airway were found in 4 patients, which was considered as specific imaging features in PTBA and was involved bilateral main bronchi largely. There were obstructive atelectasis in 2 patients, and calcifications of hilus of lung with longitudinal diaphragm lymph nodes in 3 patients, but they were not specific. Ignoring the extensive circumferential thickening of large airway, "wavy path sign" and rail-like calcification was mainly responsible for misdiagnosis of PTBA as endobronchial tuberculosis or other diseases.
 CONCLUSION Attentions to the specific imaging features on multiplanar CT and the endoscopic findings are the fundamentals to avoid the misdiagnosis of PTBA.
Amyloidosis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Bronchi ; pathology ; Bronchial Diseases ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Bronchoscopy ; Calcinosis ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Diagnostic Errors ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin Light-chain Amyloidosis ; Lung ; pathology ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Trachea ; pathology

OBJECTIVE: To determine clinical features and diagnostic methods for primary tracheobronchial amyloidosis (TBA).
 METHODS: The clinical manifestations and diagnosis of a male patient who had been misdiagnosed for many years were described and analyzed.
 RESULTS: The patient was a 68-year-old male who complained of recurrent cough, expectoration, and progressive dyspnea for more than 30 years. He had been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, and endobronchial tuberculosis in other hospitals and treated with antibiotics frequently and anti-tubercular agents for 3 months. Despite the treatments, the patient's symptoms were progressively worse. Finally, he came to Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, and was clearly diagnosed with primary TBA based on histopathological evidence after bronchoscopy.
 CONCLUSION TBA, a rare disease resulting from abnormal submucosal amyloid deposition in the trachea and bronchi, may display with many different symptoms. TBA is often misdiagnosed with other pulmonary diseases. The use of bronchoscopic techniques is essential for the diagnosis of TBA. Histopathology remains the gold standard for diagnosis of primary TBA. So, for patients with chronic cough of unknown etiology, bronchoscopy should be performed to obtain biopsy samples for the definitive diagnosis.
Aged ; Amyloidosis ; diagnosis ; Bronchi ; pathology ; Bronchial Diseases ; diagnosis ; Bronchiectasis ; Bronchitis, Chronic ; Bronchoscopy ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin Light-chain Amyloidosis ; Male ; Trachea ; pathology ; Tracheal Diseases ; diagnosis ; Tuberculosis

PURPOSE: Upper and lower respiratory tract pathologies are believed to be interrelated; however, the impact of upper airway inflammation on lung function in subjects without lung disease has not been evaluated. This study investigated the association of CT finding suggesting chronic sinusitis and lung function in healthy subjects without lung disease. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of prospectively collected data from 284 subjects who underwent a pulmonary function test, bronchial provocation test, rhinoscopy, and osteomeatal unit computed tomography offered as a private health check-up option. RESULTS: CT findings showed that the sinusitis group had a significantly lower FEV1/FVC ratio than subjects without sinusitis finding (78.62% vs 84.19%, P=0.019). Among the sinusitis group, subjects classified by CT findings as the extensive disease group had a slightly lower FEV1/FVC than those of the limited disease group (76.6% vs 79.5%, P=0.014) and the associations were independent of the presence of airway hyperresponsiveness. The subjects with nasal polyp had also lower FEV1 and FEV1/FVC than subjects without nasal polyp (FEV1: 100.0% vs 103.6%, P=0.045, FEV1/FVC: 77.4% vs 80.0%, P=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: CT findings suggesting chronic sinusitis and nasal polyp were associated with subclinical lower airway flow limitation even in the absence of underlying lung disease.
Bronchial Provocation Tests ; Inflammation ; Lung ; Lung Diseases ; Nasal Polyps* ; Pathology ; Prospective Studies ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Respiratory System ; Retrospective Studies ; Sinusitis*

OBJECTIVETo investigate the high-resolution computed tomographic (HRCT) features of infants with diffuse lung disease (DLD) for improving the diagnostic accuracy clinically.

METHODTotally 75 infants under 2 years of age with DLD (2010-2013) were involved in this study. Among them, 56 were males and 19 females, aged from 2 days to 24 months (mean age was 10.9 months). According to the clinical or pathological data, the cases were enrolled into three groups, including systemic diseases-associated infantile DLD (30 cases), alveolar structure disorders-associated infantile DLD (23 cases), and infantile DLD specific to infancy (22 cases). Retrospectively, HRCT images, from the three groups respectively, were analyzed and compared. HRCT presentations including airway disorders, interstitial disorders and air space disorders were reviewed. Inter-reviewers consistency check was performed, the consistency between reviewers was good (K = 0.64;P = 0.03, < 0.05), as well as χ(2) test.

RESULTAmong the three groups, some of the HRCT sings (bronchiectasis, thickened bronchiolar wall, mosaic sign, reticular, intralobular nodules and consolidations) had significant differences (χ(2) = 24.52, 6.08, 18.00, 12.56, 9.11 and 11.50, P < 0.05) .

CONCLUSIONThe HRCT features of infantile pulmonary DLD/interstitial LD with different causes were as follows, compared to the other two groups, intralobular nodules was the main feature of the systemic diseases-associated infantile DLD, thickened bronchiolar wall, mosaic sign and consolidations were rare as well. Meanwhile, bronchiectasis was more common in alveolar structural disorders-associated infantile DLD, and reticular opacity was rarely seen. Associated clinical data, the HRCT presentations would help clinicians to make accurate diagnosis.

Bronchial Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Male ; Pulmonary Alveoli ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

Bronchial Diseases ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Male ; Pulmonary Artery ; pathology

AMYLOIDOSIS is a benign process which can have systemic involvement. Though larynx is the common site of localized amyloidosis in the head and neck region,1 it was seldom reported with heterochronous implication of bilateral ventricles. Here we report a case of laryngeal amyloidosis heterochronously localized at bilateral ventricles with tracheobronchial involvement. Combined with our experience we reviewed the literature, and discuss the pertinent managements of this condition.
Adult ; Amyloidosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Bronchial Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Laryngeal Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Laryngoscopy ; Male ; Radiography ; Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed ; Tracheal Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDThe usual transbronchial coagulation techniques include microwave, argon plasma coagulation (APC), electrocautery and cryotherapy. However, there are serious clinical problems in the safety of each. By analyzing the experimental data and clinical observations, we observed the variable effects of different coagulation techniques via bronchofibroscopy, to look for an optimal interventional management of luminal bronchus diseases, and evaluate the safety and the equivalent point.

METHODSFour kinds of coagulation techniques under bronchoscopy were performed on the fresh bronchus of healthy sheep, and the pathologic changes in all groups were observed under the microscope. The different treatment parameters were as follows: microwave 60 W×1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds and 40 W×1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds; APC 40 W×1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds; electrocautery 40 W×1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds; cryotherapy 100 Ω×60 seconds, 120 seconds.

RESULTSAfter treatment, ovine bronchial mucosa in all groups showed pathologic changes such as local necrosis and amotio of the mucosa lining epithelium, local submucosa coagulative necrosis or tissue defects, while inflammation in the surrounding tissue was not obvious. Under the same output power and action time, different methods had different outcomes. The damage by APC was the most superficial, microwave was the second, and electrocautery caused the worst damage. The study also found that effects of electrocautery at 40 W×3 seconds, microwave at 40 W×5 seconds or 60 W×3 seconds, APC at 40 W×5 seconds and cryotherapy at 100 Ω×120 seconds were the equivalent point conditions. The appearance included mucosa absence, partial submucosa absence, and collagen fiber coagulation in treatment areas.

CONCLUSIONSEach coagulation technique has its own characteristic. It is very important to choose the appropriate power and action time of the suitable method according to the therapy requirement.

Animals ; Argon Plasma Coagulation ; adverse effects ; Bronchial Diseases ; pathology ; therapy ; Bronchoscopy ; Cryotherapy ; adverse effects ; Electrocoagulation ; adverse effects ; Microwaves ; adverse effects ; Sheep

BACKGROUNDBronchial anthracofibrosis (BAF) has been defined as a luminal narrowing associated with anthracotic pigmentation on bronchoscopy without a relevant history of pneumoconiosis or smoking. The aim of the study is to study the clinical features and imaging manifestations of BAF, and to promote the awareness of this disease.

METHODBetween October 2006 and January 2012, 15 patients were diagnosed at our department as BAF that showed a narrowing or obliteration of lobar or segmental bronchi with anthracotic pigmentation in the overlying mucosa on bronchoscopy. The medical records including clinical features, imaging manifestations, electronic bronchoscopic findings, and pathological features were analysed, and the literature was reviewed.

RESULTSA total of 15 patients were analyzed; 13 were female (86.7%) and two were male (13.3%) and the age range was from 62 to 86 years with a mean age of 74.5 years. Three cases (20.0%) had a history of tuberculosis. The most common clinical symptoms of BAF were cough (100%), expectoration (73.3%), dyspnea (60.0%), and fever (46.7%). Twelve cases displayed mild to moderate obstructive ventilatory dysfunction. In the electronic bronchoscopic evaluation, the most common findings were black bronchial mucosal pigmentation, bronchial stenosis, bronchial occlusion, and bronchial mucosal folds. Pathological evaluation revealed chronic inflammation of the bronchial mucosa, submucosal carbon particle deposition, and mucosal or submucosal fibrosis. Chest CT scans showed that 15 patients had bronchial stenosis or obstruction (direct signs) with the right middle lobe being the most common site (11 cases, 73.3%). The indirect sign was mainly the presence of bronchial obstructive diseases (including secondary infection), represented by 11 cases of pulmonary consolidation (73.3%), seven cases of atelectasis (46.7%), and five cases of nodules (33.3%). The CT mediastinal window showed bronchial lymph node lesions, mediastinal lymph node calcification (12 cases, 80.0%), and enlargement of multiple mediastinal lymph nodes.

CONCLUSIONSThe diagnosis of BAF was mainly based on bronchoscopic evaluation. Its pathogenesis is currently unclear, although it may be related to tuberculosis or bio-fuel inhalation. The diagnosis of BAF has important clinical significance, and improved awareness of this disease will contribute to prevention of unnecessary thoracotomies.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bronchial Diseases ; diagnosis ; etiology ; pathology ; Bronchoscopy ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pigmentation ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed