[Lesions in lungs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis].

The aim of this work was to study the prevalence and clinical features of affection of lungs and lower respiratory tract (LRT) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A total of 104 non-smoking patients with RA and 100 ones without RA or chronic pulmonary diseases were examined. RA was associated with affection of all parts of the respiratory tract including proximal and distal bronchi, lung interstitium, and pleura. Bronchopulmonary disorders in RA patients had multilevel character suggesting continuous inflammation and sclerotization of anatomic respiratory structures. Lesions in lungs and LRT are shown to be of prognostic value (bronchiectasis, bronchiolitis, interstitial pneumonia), they frequently produce only weak clinical symptoms, and therefore need to be actively detected. Combination of functional tests and imaging techniques is of primary importance for diagnosis of respiratory problems in patients with RA.

[Digital processing of tomograms in differential diagnosis of lung diseases]. / Tsifrovaia obrabotka tomogramm v zadache differentsial'noi diagnostikizabolevanii legkikh.

The digital methods of processing the tomograms and the methods of measurements in accordance with the processed tomograms have been elaborated to determine the quantitative characteristics, enabling one to solve the problem of early preclinical differential diagnosis of peribronchial lesions in the lungs. A linear filter discriminating the diagnostically important structures has been designed and the quantitative characteristics and their threshold values have been established.

[Types of structural-functional disorders in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]. / Tipy strukturno-funktsional'nykh narushenii pri tiazhelom techenii khronicheskikh obstruktivnykh zabolevanii legkikh.

To differentiate approaches to assessment of treatment and prognosis specificities in a severe course of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), a study was made of 30 patients with long-term COPD. The patients were divided into groups by the severity of respiratory insufficiency which was investigated by saturation of 0(2) and gas composition of arterialized capillary blood, flow-volume curve and bodyplethysmography, ECG, echo-CG. High resolution computed tomography of the lungs was used to evaluate diffuse changes of pulmonary tissue and its morphological rearrangement. Basing on the rhoentgenomorphological picture, most typical variants of pulmonary tissue changes were identified. Comparison with the clinical and laboratory-instrumental data allowed to characterize four structural-functional types which occur in severe COPD. Etiological and pathogenetic features of the above types (the role of smoking, in particular) and their contribution to development of pulmonary hypertension, treatment and prognosis are discussed.

[Digital processing and densitometry of tomograms in central lung cancer]. / Tsifrovaia obrabotka i densitometriia tomogramm pri tsentral'nom rake legkogo.

Additional information on an x-ray picture of peribronchial changes in tumorous and non-tumorous lesions of the lungs were obtained in 54 patients (40 with bronchogenic, mostly central cancer and 14 with chronic inflammatory diseases) in order to study roentgenological symptomatology before and after computerized processing of tomographic images using a method of linear filtration. Image processing with the measurement of densitometric indicators provides additional information for the estimation of bronchial affection by tumor infiltration. The same method can be of value for the detection of early signs of lung cancer in patients with peribronchial changes of obscure etiology.