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This study examined whether tactile gating induced by the descending motor command to one finger spreads out to the other fingers to which the command is not delivered and whether this gating is dependent on the target finger to which the command is delivered. The change in perceptual threshold to the digital nerve stimulation of one finger induced by tonic contraction of the first dorsal interosseous or abductor digiti minimi muscle was examined. The perceptual threshold to the digital nerve stimulation of the thumb or little finger was increased by tonic contraction of the abductor digiti minimi muscle. This finding indicates that the descending motor command to the prime mover of the little finger abduction induces tactile gating not only in the finger to which the command is delivered but also in the other finger to which the command is not delivered. Tonic contraction of the first dorsal interosseous muscle did not change the perceptual threshold to the digital nerve stimulation in any finger. This finding means that tactile gating occurs particularly when the descending motor command is delivered to the dependent finger. Spreading out of tactile gating of one finger, to which the descending motor command is not delivered, is likely mediated by surround inhibition.
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OBJECTIVES: With the increased use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer patients, arthralgia has been the most commonly reported musculoskeletal immune-related adverse event (irAE). We aimed to characterize arthralgia and its association with overall survival (OS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting on data for ICI-induced arthralgia from four online databases were comprehensively investigated. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs were calculated for arthralgia using a random-effects model meta-analysis. Individual patient data were reconstructed from RCTs assessing OS in patients with or without ICI-induced arthralgia. We also retrospectively collected data on the clinical features and outcomes of ICI-induced arthralgia in the Yokohama City University (YCU) registry. RESULTS: We analysed 14â377 patients from 24 RCTs. The OR of ICI-induced arthralgia was 1.37 (95% CI 1.20, 1.56). Of the 369 patients in the YCU registry, 50 (13.6%) developed ICI-induced arthralgia. Among them, 30 had other grade ≥2 irAEs, which was noticeably more frequent than in those without arthralgia (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.04, 3.52). By irAE types, a significant difference was found for relative adrenal insufficiency (OR 3.88, 95% CI 1.80, 8.39). In the YCU registry, patients with (vs without) ICI-induced arthralgia had better OS (log-rank, P < 0.001). OS results were validated from RCT patients with matched cancer types, drugs, and time to arthralgia onset (hazard ratio 0.34, 95% CI 0.17, 0.65, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: If arthralgia develops after ICIs, another irAE, such as relative adrenal insufficiency, may have developed. The incidence of arthralgia was associated with better OS, and the condition of patients with irAEs must be carefully evaluated to determine optimal management.
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Inibidores de Checkpoint Imunológico , Neoplasias , Humanos , Artralgia/induzido quimicamente , Coleta de Dados , Bases de Dados Factuais , Neoplasias/tratamento farmacológicoRESUMO
The present study examined whether the perceptual sensitivity and excitability of the primary sensory cortex are modulated by the afferent volley from the digital nerve of a conditioned finger within a short period of time. The perceptual threshold of an electrical stimulus to the index finger (test stimulus) was decreased by a conditioning stimulus to the index finger 4 or 6 ms before the test stimulus, or by a stimulus to the middle or ring finger 2 ms before that. This is explained by the view that the afferent volleys from the digital nerves of the fingers converge in the somatosensory areas, causing spatial summation of the afferent inputs through a small number of synaptic relays, leading to the facilitation of perceptual sensitivity. The N20 component of the somatosensory-evoked potential was facilitated by a conditioning stimulus to the middle finger 4 ms before a test stimulus or to the thumb 2 ms before the test stimulus. This is explained by the view that the afferent volley from the digital nerve of the finger adjacent to the tested finger induces lateral facilitation of the representation of the tested finger in the primary sensory cortex through a small number of synaptic relays.
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Potenciais Somatossensoriais Evocados , Nervos Periféricos , Humanos , Potenciais Somatossensoriais Evocados/fisiologia , Dedos , Estimulação Elétrica , Vias Aferentes/fisiologiaRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in patients with systemic sclerosis. METHODS: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis were carried out. We compared survival outcomes using the Kaplan-Meier method with patient-level data between HSCT and intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide. Additionally, the incidence rate of treatment-related deaths with HSCT was pooled using a random-effect model. RESULTS: Of the 2091 articles screened, 22 were included: 3 randomized controlled trials and 19 observational studies. HSCT studies showed significant improvement in the skin thickness score and lung function. Despite treatment-related deaths being higher in HSCT than in intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide, the Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a high survival rate of 2 years post-transplant (log-rank, P = 0.004). The pooled frequency of transplant-related death from 700 systemic sclerosis patients was 6.30% (95% confidence interval 4.21-8.38). However, the estimated frequency of treatment-related deaths has been reducing over the last decade. CONCLUSIONS: HSCT is an effective treatment for systemic sclerosis, but the optimal indications must be carefully determined by balancing the risks.
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Transplante de Células-Tronco Hematopoéticas , Escleroderma Sistêmico , Humanos , Transplante Autólogo , Transplante de Células-Tronco Hematopoéticas/efeitos adversos , Escleroderma Sistêmico/cirurgia , Ciclofosfamida , Medição de RiscoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Some patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) show autoimmune features. Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF) was recently proposed as a research concept in these patients. However, retrospective studies reported conflicting results of its prognosis. Therefore, this study was conducted to prospectively evaluate the clinical significance of autoimmune features in patients with IIP. METHODS: This nationwide multicentre study prospectively enrolled consecutive patients with IIP. At the diagnosis, we systematically evaluated 63 features suggestive of connective tissue diseases using a checklist including symptoms/signs and autoantibodies, which contained most items of the IPAF criteria and followed up with the patients. Clinical phenotypes were included in a cluster analysis. RESULTS: In 376 patients with IIP enrolled, 70 patients (18.6%) met the IPAF criteria. The proportion of patients with IPAF was significantly lower in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) than in non-IPF (6.0% vs 24.3%, respectively). During a median observation period of 35 months, patients with IPAF more frequently developed systemic autoimmune diseases and had less frequent acute exacerbation of IIPs than patients with non-IPAF. IPAF diagnosis was significantly associated with better survival and was an independent positive prognostic factor in total and patients with non-IPF. Cluster analysis by similarity of clinical phenotypes identified a cluster in which there was a higher number of women, and patients had more autoimmune features and a better prognosis than other clusters. INTERPRETATION: These observations suggest that some patients with IIP show autoimmune features with distinct characteristics and favourable prognosis. However, we were not able to determine the appropriate therapies for these patients.
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Pneumonias Intersticiais Idiopáticas , Doenças Pulmonares Intersticiais , Feminino , Humanos , Estudos Prospectivos , Estudos Retrospectivos , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios XRESUMO
Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved clinical outcomes and are becoming a standard treatment for many cancer types. However, these drugs also induce immune-related adverse events, among which interstitial lung disease (ILD) is potentially fatal. The underlying mechanism of ILD induction by ICIs is largely unknown. With the use of flow cytometry, we determined the expression levels of the immune-checkpoint proteins PD-1, TIM-3, TIGIT, LAG-3 and PD-L1 in T cells of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from patients with ICI-related ILD and compared them with those for patients with sarcoidosis or with ILD related to connective tissue disease or cytotoxic drug use. The proportions of CD8+ T cells positive for both PD-1 and TIM-3 or for TIGIT in BALF were significantly higher for ICI-related ILD patients than for those with other types of ILD. A prominent increase in the proportion of PD-1+PD-L1+ cells among CD8+ T cells was also apparent in BALF of a patient with a fatal case of ICI-related ILD, and the proportion of such cells was positively correlated with the grade of ICI-related ILD. Our data reveal the immune-checkpoint profiles of T cells in ICI-related ILD and may provide mechanistic insight into the development of this adverse event.
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Líquido da Lavagem Broncoalveolar/imunologia , Inibidores de Checkpoint Imunológico/imunologia , Doenças Pulmonares Intersticiais/imunologia , Linfócitos T/imunologia , Adulto , Idoso , Feminino , Humanos , Inibidores de Checkpoint Imunológico/efeitos adversos , Doenças Pulmonares Intersticiais/tratamento farmacológico , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-IdadeRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Many patients with collagen disease (CD), particularly scleroderma (SSc), develop critical limb ischemia (CLI), which leads to limb amputation. However, conventional therapies, including revascularization via surgical bypass, showed poor outcomes in CLI patients with CD. Many CLI patients with SSc showed poor responses to combination therapies including intravenous iloprost, PDE-5 inhibitors, and bosentan. Therefore, new methods of improving the peripheral circulation for limb salvage are required. This study was a subanalysis of the long-term clinical outcomes after autologous bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) in CLI patients with SSc. MethodsâandâResults: We assessed no-option CLI patients with CD who underwent BM-MNC implantation at 10 institutes; 69 patients (39 with SSc-related diseases (SSc group) and 30 with other CDs (non-SSc group)), were included. The median follow-up duration was 36.5 months. The 10-year overall survival rate was 59.1% in the SSc group and 82.4% in the non-SSc group. The 10-year major amputation-free rates were 97.4% and 82.6%, respectively. The number of major or minor amputations in the SSc group trended to be less than that in the non-SSc group. Significant improvements in visual analog scale scores were observed in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The BM-MNC implantation may be feasible in no-option CLI patients with CD. In the SSc group, limb salvage rate tended to be higher than in the non-SSc group.
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Doenças do Colágeno/terapia , Extremidades/patologia , Isquemia/terapia , Leucócitos Mononucleares/transplante , Escleroderma Sistêmico/terapia , Transplante Autólogo/métodos , Adulto , Idoso , Amputação Cirúrgica/estatística & dados numéricos , Transplante de Medula Óssea/métodos , Doenças do Colágeno/complicações , Feminino , Humanos , Isquemia/complicações , Salvamento de Membro/estatística & dados numéricos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Neovascularização Fisiológica , Estudos Retrospectivos , Inquéritos e Questionários , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
The great hurdles related with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) analysis are inhomogeneous crystallization, poor reproducibility, and low sensitivity. To effectively improve the performance of MALDI mass spectrometry (MS), graphene oxide (GO) was first utilized as an auxiliary matrix of the conventional matrices, including 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB), α-cyano-4-hydoxycyanocinnamic acid (CHCA), 2,4,6-trihydroxyacetophenone (THAP), and 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (SA), for the analysis of small molecules and biological macromolecules on different MALDI MS systems. The results revealed that the DHB-GO composite matrix could provide much superior crystal homogenization, better reproducibility, higher sensitivity, and more excellent linearity for the statins' tissue imaging on iMScope than the single-use DHB matrix. Moreover, the DHB-GO dramatically improved the spot-to-spot and shot-to-shot reproducibility, crystal homogenization, sensitivity, and linearity of MALDI-TOF MS for statins' analysis in dried droplet. The capability of THAP on the analysis of lipids, similarly, could be greatly enhanced by the combined use of GO. THAP-GO composite matrix was expected to be widely used in the MALDI MS-based liposome studies. It was also found that CHCA-GO could provide superior analytical performance for peptides. The sensitivity and reproducibility of intact proteins could be greatly improved by SA-GO composite matrix. More importantly, the better reproducibility produced by the composite matrices sufficiently indicated that low concentration (0.1 mg mL-1) of GO almost did not cause contamination to MALDI MS system. Thus, GO was proved to be a versatile auxiliary matrix for the MALDI MS-based routine analysis of small molecules and biological macromolecules. Graphical abstract á .
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Grafite/química , Lipídeos/análise , Peptídeos/análise , Proteínas/análise , Espectrometria de Massas por Ionização e Dessorção a Laser Assistida por Matriz/métodos , Acetofenonas/química , Animais , Ácidos Cumáricos/química , Cristalização , Gentisatos/química , Fígado/química , Masculino , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Somatostatina/análiseRESUMO
Although several antibodies developed to target programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) have demonstrated great promise for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and other malignancies, these therapeutic antibodies can cause pneumonitis. Furthermore, epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI)-induced pneumonitis was reported after treatment with anti PD-1 antibodies. We previously demonstrated that mice with naphthalene-induced airway epithelial injury developed severe gefitinib-induced pneumonitis through a neutrophil-dependent mechanism. The present study aimed to investigate whether treatment with afatinib, an EGFR-TKI that effectively targets EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC, and anti PD-1 antibodies induces pneumonitis in mice. C57BL/6J mice were treated intraperitoneally with naphthalene (200 mg/kg) on day 0. Afatinib (20 mg/kg) was administered orally on days -1 to 13. An anti-PD-1 antibody (0.2 mg/mice) was also administered intraperitoneally every 3 days from day 1 until day 13. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissues were sampled on day 14. As observed previously with gefitinib, afatinib significantly increased the severity of histopathologic findings and the level of protein in BALF on day 14, compared to treatment with naphthalene alone. A combined anti-PD-1 antibody and afatinib treatment after naphthalene administration had yielded the same histopathological grade of lung inflammation as did afatinib treatment alone. Our results suggest that anti-PD-1 antibody treatment has little effect on afatinib-induced lung injury.
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Anticorpos Monoclonais/administração & dosagem , Naftalenos/intoxicação , Pneumonia/induzido quimicamente , Pneumonia/tratamento farmacológico , Receptor de Morte Celular Programada 1/imunologia , Quinazolinas/efeitos adversos , Doença Aguda , Afatinib , Animais , Anticorpos Monoclonais/imunologia , Antineoplásicos/administração & dosagem , Antineoplásicos/efeitos adversos , Relação Dose-Resposta a Droga , Feminino , Humanos , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Naftalenos/administração & dosagem , Pneumonia/imunologia , Receptor de Morte Celular Programada 1/antagonistas & inibidores , Quinazolinas/administração & dosagem , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: As a member of the epidermal growth factor family, amphiregulin contributes to the regulation of cell proliferation. Amphiregulin was reported to be upregulated in damaged lung tissues in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma and in lung epithelial cells in a ventilator-associated lung injury model. In this study, we investigated the effect of amphiregulin on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury in mice. METHODS: Acute lung injury was induced by intranasal instillation of LPS in female C57BL/6 mice, and the mice were given intraperitoneal injections of recombinant amphiregulin or phosphate-buffered saline 6 and 0.5 h before and 3 h after LPS instillation. The effect of amphiregulin on apoptosis and apoptotic pathways in a murine lung alveolar type II epithelial cell line (LA-4 cells) were examined using flow cytometry and western blotting, respectively. RESULTS: Recombinant amphiregulin suppressed epithelial cell apoptosis in LPS-induced lung injury in mice. Western blotting revealed that amphiregulin suppressed epithelial cell apoptosis by inhibiting caspase-8 activity. CONCLUSION: Amphiregulin signaling may be a therapeutic target for LPS-induced lung injury treatment through its prevention of epithelial cell apoptosis.
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Lesão Pulmonar Aguda/prevenção & controle , Anfirregulina/farmacologia , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Lipopolissacarídeos/toxicidade , Lesão Pulmonar Aguda/patologia , Animais , Células Epiteliais/efeitos dos fármacos , Células Epiteliais/patologia , Feminino , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BLRESUMO
Gefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), is an effective therapeutic agent for non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations. It can cause severe acute pneumonitis in some patients. We previously demonstrated that mice with naphthalene-induced airway epithelial injury developed severe gefitinib-induced pneumonitis and that neutrophils played important roles in the development of the disease. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the neutrophil elastase inhibitor sivelestat on gefitinib-induced pneumonitis in mice. C57BL/6J mice received naphthalene (200 mg/kg) intraperitoneally on day 0. Gefitinib (250 or 300 mg/kg) was orally administered to mice from day -1 until day 13. Sivelestat (150 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally from day 1 until day 13. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissues were sampled on day 14. Sivelestat treatment significantly reduced the protein level, neutrophil count, neutrophil elastase activity in BALF, and severity of histopathologic findings on day 14 for mice administered with 250 mg/kg of gefitinib. Moreover, sivelestat treatment significantly improved the survival of mice administered with 300 mg/kg of gefitinib. These results indicate that sivelestat is a promising therapeutic agent for severe acute pneumonitis caused by gefitinib.
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Glicina/análogos & derivados , Elastase de Leucócito/antagonistas & inibidores , Pneumonia/prevenção & controle , Sulfonamidas/farmacologia , Doença Aguda , Animais , Líquido da Lavagem Broncoalveolar/química , Líquido da Lavagem Broncoalveolar/citologia , Feminino , Gefitinibe , Glicina/farmacologia , Humanos , Estimativa de Kaplan-Meier , Contagem de Leucócitos , Elastase de Leucócito/metabolismo , Pulmão/efeitos dos fármacos , Pulmão/metabolismo , Pulmão/patologia , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Naftalenos , Neutrófilos/efeitos dos fármacos , Neutrófilos/metabolismo , Pneumonia/induzido quimicamente , Quinazolinas , Inibidores de Serina Proteinase/farmacologia , Redução de Peso/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
In the present study, we tested a hypothesis that the rhythm generator in humans keeps the rhythm of periodic motor output during brief inactivation of the pattern generator. This investigation was made through testing whether the step rhythm was reset after an interruptive event. A reset of the step rhythm was defined as an observation that the step re-emerges at random timing after an interruptive event regardless of the step rhythm before the interruption. This observation reflects an intermission of rhythm-keeping activity. Healthy participants stepped on a platform that could translate forward or backward. They continued stepping after the platform translation (non-stop session) or stopped briefly after the translation before resuming step with their own timing (stop session). In the non-stop session, the second step after the platform translation appeared at the integer multiple of the pre-existing step period in most participants, indicating that step rhythm was not reset. This finding indicates that postural perturbation does not interfere the rhythm-keeping activity. In the stop session, the step immediately after the intermission of stepping appeared at random time regardless of the step rhythm before the intermission in most participants. The actual side of the first step after the intermission was consistent with the predicted first step side at a 0.5 probability. Those findings indicate that step rhythm is reset after brief intermission of stepping, and contradict with the hypothesis that the activity of the rhythm generator is maintained, while the pattern generator is temporally inactive during a brief intermission of periodic motor output. This analysis could help to determine whether rhythm-keeping activity is inactivated by an interruptive event during periodic motor activity.
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Movimento/fisiologia , Periodicidade , Equilíbrio Postural/fisiologia , Postura/fisiologia , Adulto , Fenômenos Biomecânicos , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Probabilidade , Tempo de Reação/fisiologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Alectinib, the second generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, has significant potency in patients with ALK rearrangement positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and its toxicity is generally well tolerable. We report a patient who developed severe acute interstitial lung disease after alectinib treatment. An 86-year-old woman with stage IV lung adenocarcinoma positive for rearrangement of ALK gene was treated with alectinib. On the 215th day after initiation of alectinib administration, she was admitted to our hospital with the symptom of progressive dyspnea. Computed tomography (CT) revealed diffuse ground glass opacities and consolidations in both lungs, and analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid revealed pronounced lymphocytosis. There was no evidence of infection or other specific causes of her condition, and she was therefore diagnosed with interstitial lung disease induced by alectinib. Her CT findings and respiratory condition improved after steroid pulse therapy. As far as we are aware, this is the first reported case of alectinib-induced severe interstitial lung disease (ILD). We should be aware of the possibility of such a severe adverse event and should therefore carefully monitor patients treated with this drug.
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Adenocarcinoma/tratamento farmacológico , Antineoplásicos/efeitos adversos , Carbazóis/efeitos adversos , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/tratamento farmacológico , Doenças Pulmonares Intersticiais/induzido quimicamente , Neoplasias Pulmonares/tratamento farmacológico , Piperidinas/efeitos adversos , Adenocarcinoma de Pulmão , Corticosteroides/uso terapêutico , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Quinase do Linfoma Anaplásico , Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Carbazóis/uso terapêutico , Feminino , Humanos , Doenças Pulmonares Intersticiais/tratamento farmacológico , Piperidinas/uso terapêutico , Receptores Proteína Tirosina Quinases/genéticaRESUMO
In the present study, we examined the immediate effect of allowing healthy participants to view their mirror-reflected body image on static and dynamic balance. We placed a mirror to allow participants to frontally view their own body image while maintaining a quiet stance or while engaged in a dynamic postural standing task. On measures of body sway during quiet stance, there were no effects of this visual feedback, supporting the view that human beings have no central mechanism for viewing the mirror-reflected body image to control body sway during quiet stance. However, the body deviated forward during quiet stance while viewing the mirror-reflected body image, indicating that viewing the mirror-reflected body image contributed to the anterior-posterior positioning of the body, as mediated by an ankle control strategy. For the dynamic standing task, viewing the body image induced unstable peaks of rhythmic lateral shifting of the body weight over the feet. This indicates that viewing the body image caused unstable motor commands for rhythmic lateral weight shifting. When participants made a transition from a bipedal to a unipedal stance in response to a cue, viewing the body image shortened the onset latency of the body sway. Accordingly, viewing the body image seemed to accelerate the motor execution involved in lateral weight shifting, possibly due to predictive activation of the motor system before movement onset. Considered collectively, we found static and dynamic stance balance to be influenced by viewing one's mirror-reflected body image. Viewing the mirror-reflected body image may be a means of changing static and dynamic balance in patients with impaired postural control.
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Imagem Corporal , Equilíbrio Postural , Humanos , Equilíbrio Postural/fisiologia , Masculino , Adulto , Feminino , Adulto Jovem , Imagem Corporal/psicologia , Posição Ortostática , Retroalimentação Sensorial/fisiologia , Percepção Visual/fisiologiaRESUMO
Platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome (POS) is a rare condition characterized by dyspnea and oxygen desaturation that worsens in the upright position and improves when lying down. We report the case of a 67-year-old male who presented with a 14-month history of dyspnea in the sitting/standing position. Despite treatment for suspected asthma, his symptoms persisted, and he was referred to our hospital for further evaluation. Physical examination and arterial blood gas analysis confirmed the presence of POS, with a significant decrease in PaO2 and SpO2 when moving from a supine to an upright position. Contrast-enhanced CT showed no obvious embolism nor arteriovenous fistula, and ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy demonstrated ventilation-perfusion mismatch with a right-to-left shunt fraction of 9.4%, without any focal defect. Transthoracic echocardiography with a microbubble test demonstrated a right-to-left shunt that increased in the upright position. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed an atrial septal defect (ASD) with an atrial septal aneurysm and the presence of an inferior vena cava valve, causing a bidirectional shunt. The patient was diagnosed with POS secondary to ASD and was referred for percutaneous closure of the defect. Following the procedure, the shunt resolved, and the patient's orthostatic oxygen desaturation improved. This case highlights the importance of considering POS in patients with positional dyspnea and the value of performing diagnostic tests, such as echocardiography, in different positions to identify the underlying cause. Early recognition and appropriate management of POS can significantly improve patients' quality of life and prevent complications associated with chronic hypoxemia.
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Invasive tracheobronchial aspergillosis (ITBA) is a rare but severe form of invasive aspergillosis. This report presents a fatal case of ITBA in a 75-year-old man with a complex medical history including mediastinal lung adenocarcinoma, radiation pneumonitis, and pulmonary nocardiosis. The patient was admitted with worsening dyspnea and chest imaging revealed severe airway stenosis. Initially suspected to be cancer recurrence, post-mortem examination confirmed ITBA caused by Aspergillus penicillioides. Histopathological findings showed fungal invasion of the tracheobronchial tree with destruction, obstruction, and perforation of the airways. Multiple risk factors likely contributed to the development of ITBA in this patient, including diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), long-term steroid use, prior COVID-19 infection, and a history of radiation therapy. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges of ITBA, particularly in patients with multiple comorbidities and a history of malignancy. It emphasizes the importance of considering fungal infections in the differential diagnosis of airway obstruction in high-risk patients.
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SMARCA4-deficient undifferentiated tumor (SMARCA4-UT) is a rare and aggressive malignancy characterized by the loss of SMARCA4 protein expression. It typically affects middle-aged male smokers and has a poor prognosis due to its rapid progression and metastatic potential. This case report presents a 73-year-old male diagnosed with a thoracic SMARCA4-UT. Initially diagnosed with stage IVA non-small cell lung cancer, the patient underwent brain tumor resection, radiation, and chemo-immunotherapy. Treatment was halted due to immune-related adverse events. During treatment, a progressing small intestine tumor was discovered, resected, and identified as SMARCA4-UT metastasis through immunohistochemistry, leading to a revised diagnosis of SMARCA4-UT with brain and small intestine metastases. The patient received multimodal treatment, including surgery, radiation, and chemo-immunotherapy. The small intestine metastasis showed resistance to systemic therapy, necessitating surgical intervention. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges and treatment complexities of SMARCA4-UT, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive diagnostic workup and personalized treatment strategies. It demonstrates the potential efficacy of combining systemic therapy with targeted interventions for oligoprogressive disease. The patient's progression-free survival at approximately two years post-diagnosis underscores the need for further research into optimal management strategies for this rare tumor.
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BACKGROUND/AIM: Nivolumab and ipilimumab combination therapy has been extensively explored for the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) through the pivotal phase III trials CheckMate 227 and CheckMate 9LA. However, the relationship between immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and the effectiveness of nivolumab plus ipilimumab-based therapy in a real-world clinical setting remains uncertain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 28 patients with advanced or recurrent NSCLC who underwent treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab, with or without platinum-doublet chemotherapy, from February 2021 to January 2023. The primary objective was to elucidate the clinical association between irAEs and treatment efficacy associated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab-based therapy. RESULTS: Among the 28 patients, 22 (78.6%) experienced irAEs. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly longer for patients with irAEs than for those without (p=0.0158), as was overall survival (OS) (p=0.000394). The severity of irAEs had no significant influence on PFS or OS. The objective response rate tended to be higher in patients with irAEs than in those without (50.0% versus 0.0%, respectively; p=0.0549). Multivariate analysis indicated that irAE occurrence was an independent factor for improved PFS (hazard ratio=0.2084, p=0.01383) and OS (hazard ratio=0.0857, p=0.001588). Interstitial lung disease was inferior to other irAE profiles for both PFS and OS. CONCLUSION: Patients with advanced NSCLC experiencing irAEs demonstrated superior clinical outcomes when treated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab-based therapy compared with those without irAEs. However, immune-related interstitial lung disease may be less linked with PFS and OS than other irAE profiles.