Effectiveness of Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease With Different Degrees of Static Lung Hyperinflation.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on exercise performance and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with different degrees of static lung hyperinflation (LH). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: PR network. PARTICIPANTS: A cohort of 1981 patients with COPD (55% men; age: 66.8±9.3y; forced expiratory volume in the first second%: 50.7±19.5; residual volume [RV]%: 163.0±49.7). INTERVENTION: An interdisciplinary PR program for patients with COPD consisting of 40 sessions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants were stratified into 5 quintiles according to baseline RV and were evaluated on the basis of pre- and post-PR 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), constant work rate test (CWRT), and Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), among other clinical parameters. RESULTS: With increasing RV quintile, patients were younger, more frequently women, had lower forced expiratory volume in the first second%, lower body mass index and fat-free mass index, shorter 6MWD, shorter CWRT, and worse SGRQ scores (P<.01). All RV strata improved after PR in all 3 outcomes (P<.001). Nevertheless, higher, compared to lower RV categories, had lower ΔCWRT (P<.01) but similar Δ6MWD (P=.948) and ΔSGRQ (P=.086) after PR. CONCLUSIONS: LH in COPD is related to younger age, female sex, lower body weight, worse exercise capacity and health status, but did not prevent patients from benefitting from PR. LH, however, influences walking and cycling response after PR differently.

Invasive Aspergillosis Mimicking Metastatic Lung Cancer.

In a patient with a medical history of cancer, the most probable diagnosis of an 18FDG-avid pulmonary mass combined with intracranial abnormalities on brain imaging is metastasized cancer. However, sometimes a differential diagnosis with an infectious cause such as aspergillosis can be very challenging as both cancer and infection are sometimes difficult to distinguish. Pulmonary aspergillosis can present as an infectious pseudotumour with clinical and imaging characteristics mimicking lung cancer. Even in the presence of cerebral lesions, radiological appearance of abscesses can look like brain metastasis. These similarities can cause significant diagnostic difficulties with a subsequent therapeutic delay and a potential adverse outcome. Awareness of this infectious disease that can mimic lung cancer, even in an immunocompetent patient, is important. We report a case of a 65-year-old woman with pulmonary aspergillosis disseminated to the brain mimicking metastatic lung cancer.