Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis--report of three cases with pulmonary function and exercise studies.

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis is a rare disease involving accumulation of calcific concretions in the alveoli of the lungs. Three cases of this disease are reported with their varying and unusual clinical features. Radiologic studies demonstrated presence of diffuse calcific densities in the lungs with varying degrees of emphysematous changes. Bone scans showed diffuse uptake of the tracer in the lungs. Pulmonary functions showed hyperinflation and small airways dysfunction in one case besides the presence of restrictive ventilatory defect. Exercise studies demonstrated arterial oxygen desaturation on exercise.

Duodenal tuberculosis: a review of the clinicopathologic features and management of twelve cases.

A retrospective analysis of twelve cases of duodenal tuberculosis is presented herein. The average age of the patients was 31.4 years with a male to female ratio of 2:1. The presenting complaints were duodenal obstruction in six patients and subacute intestinal obstruction in three. None of the patients had associated pulmonary tuberculosis. Eight patients had isolated duodenal tuberculosis, two of whom were successfully treated with antitubercular drugs. In four patients, the diagnosis was established at laparotomy by the presence of tubercles over the duodenum. Five patients required a bypass procedure for obstruction caused by the duodenal tuberculosis and one patient was operated on for uncontrollable bleeding from a tubercular duodenal ulcer. All patients remained symptom free after treatment, whether medical or surgical. Thus, in areas where tuberculosis is endemic, even in the absence of pulmonary tuberculosis, duodenal tuberculosis should be suspected in patients with upper gastrointestinal obstruction or in patients with peptic ulcer like symptoms not responding to medical therapy.

Spontaneous regression of extramedullary plasmacytoma--a case report.

A case of extramedullary plasmacytoma in the soft tissues of the posterior chest wall of an 80-year old man is reported herein. Immunofluorescence study showed that the tumor cells produced IgG lambda. An M-component was also detected in the patient's serum by paper electrophoresis. Two months following the open biopsy done to establish diagnosis, the tumor underwent spontaneous regression and the M-component in the serum also disappeared. This is the first case report of spontaneous regression of an extramedullary plasmacytoma and the probable reasons for this spontaneous regression are discussed herein.