Imaging of the post-radiation chest in lung cancer.

Radiation therapy using conventional fractionated external-beam or high-precision dose techniques including three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, stereotactic body radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and proton therapy, is a key component in the treatment of patients with lung cancer. Knowledge of the radiation technique used, radiation treatment plan, expected temporal evolution of radiation-induced lung injury and patient-specific parameters, such as previous radiotherapy, concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and/or immunotherapy, is important in imaging interpretation. This review discusses factors that affect the development and severity of radiation-induced lung injury and its radiological manifestations with emphasis on the differences between conventional radiation and high-precision dose radiotherapy techniques.

Post-immunotherapy imaging in lung cancer.

By boosting the immune system, immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has altered the management of patients with various cancers including those with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). As a result of immune system activation, ICIs are associated with unique response patterns (that are not addressed by traditional response criteria) and inflammatory side effects termed immune-related adverse events. In this article, we will review the role of immunotherapy in cancer treatment, specifically ICIs used in NSCLC treatment, radiological response criteria of immunotherapy, and the imaging spectrum of immune-related adverse events.

The postoperative chest in lung cancer.

Most of the complications following lung cancer surgery occur in the early postoperative period and can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Delayed complications can also occur. Diagnosing these complications can be challenging because clinical manifestations are non-specific. Imaging plays an important role in detecting these complications in a timely manner and facilitates prompt interventions. Hence, it is important to have knowledge of the expected anatomical alterations following lung cancer surgeries, and the spectrum of post-surgical complications and their respective imaging findings to avoid misinterpretations or delay in diagnosis.

Opioid-specific medication-assisted therapy and its impact on criminal justice and overdose outcomes.

Background: The overlap between justice system involvement and drug use is well-documented. Justice-involved people who misuse opioids are at high risk for relapse and criminal recidivism. Criminal justice policymakers consider opioid-specific medication-assisted therapies (MATs) one approach for improving outcomes for this population. More research is needed that explores the impacts of opioid-specific MATs for justice-involved people. Objectives: This study sought to assess the effects of opioid-specific MAT for reducing the frequency and likelihood of criminal justice and overdose outcomes for current or formerly justice-involved individuals. Search Methods: Records were searched between May 7, 2021 and June 23, 2021. We searched a total of sixteen proprietary and open access databases that included access to gray literature and conference proceedings. The bibliographies of included studies and relevant reviews were also searched. Selection Criteria: Studies were eligible for inclusion in the review if they: (a) assessed the effects of opioid-specific MATs on individual-level criminal justice or overdose outcomes; included (b) a current or formerly justice-involved sample; and (c) a randomized or strong quasi-experimental design; and c) were published in English between January 1, 1960 and October 31, 2020. Data Collection and Analysis: We used the standard methodological procedures as expected by The Campbell Collaboration. Main Results: Twenty studies were included, representing 30,119 participants. The overall risk of bias for the experimental studies ranged from "some" to "high" and for quasi-experimental studies ranged from "moderate" to "serious." As such, findings must be interpreted against the backdrop of less-than-ideal methodological contexts. Of the 20 included studies, 16 included outcomes that were meta-analyzed using mean log odds ratios (which were reported as mean odds ratios). Mean effects were nonsignificant for reincarceration (odds ratio [OR] = 0.93 [0.68, 1.26], SE = .16), rearrest (OR = 1.47 [0.70, 3.07], SE = 0.38), and fatal overdose (OR = 0.82 [0.56, 1.21], SE = 0.20). For nonfatal overdose, the average effect was significant (OR = 0.41 [0.18, 0.91], SE = 0.41, p < 0.05), suggesting that those receiving MAT had nearly 60% reduced odds of a nonfatal overdose. Implications for Policy Practice and Research: The current review supports some utility for adopting MAT for the treatment of justice-involved people with opioid addiction, however, more studies that employ rigorous methodologies are needed. Researchers should work with agencies to improve adherence to medication regimens, study design, and collect more detailed information on participants, their criminal and substance use histories, onset, and severity. This would help clarify whether treatment and control groups are indeed comparable and provide better insight into the potential reasons for participant dropout, treatment failure, and the occurrence of recidivism or overdose. Outcomes should be assessed in multiple ways, if possible (e.g., self-report and official record), as reliance on official data alone may undercount participants' degree of criminal involvement.

Unique and shared systemic biomarkers for emphysema in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND: Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency (AATD), the most common genetic cause of emphysema presents with unexplained phenotypic heterogeneity in affected subjects. Our objectives to identify unique and shared AATD plasma biomarkers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may explain AATD phenotypic heterogeneity. METHODS: The plasma or serum of 5,924 subjects from four AATD and COPD cohorts were analyzed on SomaScan V4.0 platform. Using multivariable linear regression, inverse variance random-effects meta-analysis, and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression we tested the association between 4,720 individual proteins or combined in a protein score with emphysema measured by 15th percentile lung density (PD15) or diffusion capacity (DLCO) in distinct AATD genotypes (Pi*ZZ, Pi*SZ, Pi*MZ) and non-AATD, PiMM COPD subjects. AAT SOMAmer accuracy for identifying AATD was tested using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. FINDINGS: In PiZZ AATD subjects, 2 unique proteins were associated with PD15 and 98 proteins with DLCO. Of those, 68 were also associated with DLCO in COPD also and enriched for three cellular component pathways: insulin-like growth factor, lipid droplet, and myosin complex. PiMZ AATD subjects shared similar proteins associated with DLCO as COPD subjects. Our emphysema protein score included 262 SOMAmers and predicted emphysema in AATD and COPD subjects. SOMAmer AAT level <7.99 relative fluorescence unit (RFU) had 100% sensitivity and specificity for identifying Pi*ZZ, but it was lower for other AATD genotypes. INTERPRETATION: Using SomaScan, we identified unique and shared plasma biomarkers between AATD and COPD subjects and generated a protein score that strongly associates with emphysema in COPD and AATD. Furthermore, we discovered unique biomarkers associated with DLCO and emphysema in PiZZ AATD. FUNDING: This work was supported by a grant from the Alpha-1 Foundation to RPB. COPDGene was supported by Award U01 HL089897 and U01 HL089856 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Proteomics for COPDGene was supported by NIH 1R01HL137995. GRADS was supported by Award U01HL112707, U01 HL112695 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and UL1TRR002535 to CCTSI; QUANTUM-1 was supported by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the Office of Rare Diseases through the Rare Lung Disease Clinical Research Network (1 U54 RR019498-01, Trapnell PI), and the Alpha-1 Foundation. COPDGene is also supported by the COPD Foundation through contributions made to an Industry Advisory Board that has included AstraZeneca, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sunovion.

PROTOCOL: Opioid-specific medication-assisted therapy and its impact on criminal justice and overdose outcomes.

Background: The overlap between criminal justice system involvement and drug use is well-documented, and criminal justice agencies have been particularly overwhelmed by the recent opioid epidemic. Treating opioid (and other substance) addiction as a means to reduce risk for future criminality and improve public safety is inherently a responsibility for the criminal justice system. In turn, the criminal justice system has a responsibility to manage and treat addiction among the individuals under its purview.  Policy recommendations place emphasis on the use of medication-assisted treatments (MAT) as a front-line defense among correctional populations, because its efficacy and effectiveness has been well-established in other contexts.  Despite this, criminal justice agencies have been reluctant or slow to do so. Objectives: The current review will provide criminal justice and substance use treatment decision-makers with information regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of opioid-specific MAT on offending and overdose outcomes. Specifically, the authors will address the following research questions: Do opioid-specific MATs reduce the frequency or likelihood of criminal justice outcomes, as defined by official or self-reported indices of criminal reconviction or rearrest, revocation of community supervision, mandated treatment failure, and specialized court docket failure? Do opioid-specific MATs reduce the frequency of opioid overdose among individuals with current or prior self-reported or official record of criminal justice system involvement? Inclusion Criteria: Studies were required to use strong quasi-experimental or randomized experimental designs. All studies used individual level unit of analysis and examined adults and adolescents who are male, female, or nonbinary and racially/ethnically diverse, with current opioid use and who have current or prior criminal justice involvement. Studies had to prospectively test the effects of heroin and methadone maintenance, buprenorphine, or naltrexone on criminal conviction, arrest, revocation of community supervision, technical probation or parole violation, mandated treatment failure, and specialized court docket failure. Overdose outcomes were also examined for samples in criminal justice settings such as jails, prisons, probation, and parole. Search Strategy and Data Collection: This review builds upon a prior review conducted by Egli et al. (2009) and examined studies meeting the inclusion criteria above published between 1960 and October 31, 2020. The following platforms and databases (in parentheticals) were used: EBSCOhost (Criminal Justice Abstracts, SocINDEX with Full Text, Legal Collection, Wilson Omnifile, PsycINFO, Social Work Abstracts, and Women's Studies International [includes grey literature]); ProQuest (Criminal Justice Database, PAIS [includes grey literature], Dissertations and Theses Global [includes grey literature]); Gale (Expanded Academic ASAP, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center); FirstSearch (GPO Monthly Catalog, PapersFirst [includes grey literature]); ISI Web of Knowledge (Web of Science Core Collection); Office of Justice Programs (National Criminal Justice Reference Service); Summon; and Nexis Uni. The following open access platforms and databases will also be consulted: Elsevier (Scopus [includes grey literature]); Science.gov; ClinicalTrials.gov; WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) portal; and Google Scholar. Search terms were harvested according to their demonstrated success in drawing out relevant and complete results for studies regarding the effectiveness of opioid-specific medication-assisted therapies (MATs). From this process 5 core search strings were created, each one with the same general base terms, but unique outcome measure(s). Analysis: For binary offending outcomes (e.g., arrest, conviction, incarceration, specialty court failure, mandated treatment failure, or community supervision failure) and overdose outcomes, odds ratios were computed, and for continuous or quasi-continuous outcomes (e.g., total number of arrests), a standardized mean difference type effect size was computed and then transformed into an odds ratio. We used the χ 2 test that goes with the forest plot and computed the I 2 statistic to assess heterogeneity. Risk of bias was assessed with (1) the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials; and (2) the risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions assessment tool.

Heritability of lung function in severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Severe alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency is a proven genetic risk factor for COPD, but there is marked variation in the development of COPD among AAT deficient subjects. To investigate familial aggregation of lung function in subjects with AAT deficiency, we estimated heritability for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) in 378 AAT deficient subjects from 167 families in the AAT Genetic Modifiers Study; all subjects were verified homozygous for the Z AAT deficiency allele. Heritability was evaluated for models that included and excluded an ascertainment correction, as well as for models that excluded, included and were stratified by a cigarette smoking covariate. In models without an ascertainment correction, and in all models without a covariate for smoking, no evidence for familial aggregation of lung function was observed. In models conditioned on the index proband with covariates for smoking, post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC demonstrated significant heritability (0.26 +/- 0.14, p = 0.03). When we limited the analysis to subjects with a smoking history, post-bronchodilator FEV1 demonstrated significant heritability (0.47 +/- 0.21, p = 0.02). Severity rate phenotypes were also assessed as potential phenotypes for genetic modifier studies. Significant heritability was found with all age-of-onset threshold models that included smoking and ascertainment adjustments. Using the t-distribution, the heritability estimates ranged from 0.43 to 0.64, depending on the age-of-onset of FEV1 decline used for the severity rate calculation. Correction for ascertainment and consideration of gene-by-smoking interactions will be crucial for the identification of genes that may modify susceptibility for COPD in families with AAT deficiency.

Development of predictive models for airflow obstruction in alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency.

Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency is a genetic condition associated with severe, early-onset chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, there is significant variability in lung function impairment among persons with the protease inhibitor ZZ genotype. Early identification of persons at highest risk of developing lung disease could be beneficial in guiding monitoring and treatment decisions. Using a multicenter, family-based study sample (2002-2005) of 372 persons with the protease inhibitor ZZ genotype, the authors developed prediction models for forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) and the presence of severe COPD using demographic, clinical, and genetic variables. Half of the data sample was used for model development, and the other half was used for model validation. In the training sample, variables found to be predictive of both FEV(1) and severe COPD were age, sex, pack-years of smoking, bronchodilator responsiveness, chronic bronchitis symptoms, and index case status. In the validation sample, the predictive model for FEV(1) explained 50% of the variance in FEV(1), and the model for severe COPD exhibited excellent discrimination (c statistic = 0.88).

The impact of respiratory failure on the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Six patients with hypoxic respiratory failure (arterial PO2/alveolar PO2 less than 0.50) resulting from active tuberculosis were evaluated to assess the impact of respiratory failure on the diagnosis of the underlying tuberculosis. All patients demonstrated anemia (hematocrit [mean +/- SEM], 0.29 +/- 0.01 [29.0% +/- 1.0%]) and hypoalbuminemia (serum albumin, 22 +/- 2 g/L [2.2 +/- 0.2 g/dL]) and noted an illness longer than one week. Findings on chest roentgenograms varied from a miliary pattern, misinterpreted as congestive heart failure, to cavitary and noncavitary alveolar infiltrates, misdiagnosed as bacterial pneumonia. Tuberculosis was not considered as a diagnostic possibility on admission in any patient. The mean time from admission until consideration of tuberculosis was 4.7 +/- 1.0 days and the time to diagnosis was 7.2 +/- 1.7 days. In contrast, tuberculosis was considered on admission in 12 patients presenting with undiagnosed active tuberculosis without respiratory failure. We conclude that respiratory failure delays the diagnosis of active tuberculosis by suggesting nontuberculous pneumonia.

Cyst-based measurements for assessing lymphangioleiomyomatosis in computed tomography.

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy of a new family of measurements made on individual pulmonary cysts extracted from computed tomography (CT) for assessing the severity of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). METHODS: CT images were analyzed using thresholding to identify a cystic region of interest from chest CT of LAM patients. Individual cysts were then extracted from the cystic region by the watershed algorithm, which separates individual cysts based on subtle edges within the cystic regions. A family of measurements were then computed, which quantify the amount, distribution, and boundary appearance of the cysts. Sequential floating feature selection was used to select a small subset of features for quantification of the severity of LAM. Adjusted R(2) from multiple linear regression and R(2) from linear regression against measurements from spirometry were used to compare the performance of our proposed measurements with currently used density based CT measurements in the literature, namely, the relative area measure and the D measure. RESULTS: Volumetric CT data, performed at total lung capacity and residual volume, from a total of 49 subjects enrolled in the MILES trial were used in our study. Our proposed measures had adjusted R(2) ranging from 0.42 to 0.59 when regressing against the spirometry measures, with p < 0.05. For previously used density based CT measurements in the literature, the best R(2) was 0.46 (for only one instance), with the majority being lower than 0.3 or p > 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed family of CT-based cyst measurements have better correlation with spirometric measures than previously used density based CT measurements. They show potential as a sensitive tool for quantitatively assessing the severity of LAM.

Failure of the circulatory system limits exercise performance in patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the mechanisms for exercise impairment in symptomatic patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) using breath-by-breath expired-gas analysis with incremental exercise testing. DESIGN: Prospective, open trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifteen consecutive patients with SSc seen at the Medical University Hospital (a tertiary referral center) with complaints of exercise intolerance underwent pulmonary function testing (spirometry, helium dilution lung volumes, and diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide) and incremental exercise testing on a cycle ergometer measuring oxygen consumption (VO2), carbon dioxide production (VCO2), respiratory exchange ratio (R), oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and heart rate (HR). Values for oxygen uptake at anaerobic threshold (VO2AT) were derived graphically by blinded clinicians experienced in exercise testing, and the results were averaged. Ventilatory reserve and oxygen pulse were calculated from measured values, and all data were subjected to analysis by standard clinical algorithms. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of 15 patients studied, 14 had either restrictive lung disease or normal results of spirometry on pulmonary function testing. One patient with a history of tobacco use had evidence of airways obstruction. Three patients were unable to exercise maximally (as determined by maximum respiratory exchange ratio [Rmax] greater than 1.09 or maximum heart rate [HRmax] greater than 85% predicted), and exercise testing was terminated in one with Mobitz type II atrioventricular block. The following data (mean +/- SEM) were obtained from 11 maximally exercising patients: VO2max 795 +/- 75 mL oxygen (O2)/min, R 1.34 +/- 0.05, VO2AT/VO2max predicted 0.21 +/- 0.02, O2 pulse 5.1 +/- 0.4 mL O2/beat, ventilatory reserve 0.52 +/- 0.06, and tidal volume/forced vital capacity ratio 0.46 +/- 0.02. Of the 11 patients completing breath-by-breath expired-gas analysis, all had circulatory impairment to exercise, as determined by low O2 pulse and low VO2 at anaerobic threshold, and circulatory impairment was limiting in 9 of 11 patients. Of those nine patients, four had evidence of impaired gas exchange compatible with pulmonary vascular disease. Arterial oxygen desaturation occurred in 2 of 11 patients. CONCLUSION: Circulatory impairment to exercise is common in SSc patients with exercise intolerance. Restrictive lung disease, although also common, does not limit exercise tolerance in patients capable of maximal effort.

The clinician's perspective on parapneumonic effusions and empyema.

Respondents at an interactive symposium on pleural space infections (n = 339) at the 1991 American College of Chest Physicians Annual Scientific Assembly recorded their personal management preferences for hypothetical patients with empyema. The group's preference was to treat pleural sepsis from an anaerobic multiloculated empyema by pleural decortication (49 percent); however, open thoracotomy with directed chest tube placement (22 percent), chest tube placement with intrapleural streptokinase (14 percent), placement of a single chest tube into the largest pleural loculus (8 percent), and placement of multiple small-bore catheters with computed tomographic guidance (7 percent) all had proponents. In the case of a multiloculated empyema not completely drained by a first chest tube in a nontoxic patient, the preference was drainage by a second chest tube, either a small-bore (42 percent) or a large-bore (36 percent) tube. The heterogeneity of responses suggests that prospective trials comparing treatment modalities are needed.

Granulomatous pneumonitis following intravesical BCG. What therapy is needed?

A 68-year-old man developed fever, cough, and dyspnea after intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). Chest radiograph revealed diffuse reticulonodular infiltrates with caseating granulomas on transbronchial biopsy specimen. Cultures were negative and the patient's condition improved with corticosteroids. The mechanism for BCG-induced granulomatous inflammation is poorly understood. Optimal therapy includes corticosteroids.

Bullous sarcoidosis: a report of three cases.

Three cases of pulmonary sarcoidosis presented as bullous emphysema with severe airflow obstruction, and the diagnosis of sarcoidosis was unsuspected for at least 2 years. Potential mechanisms of bullous emphysema from sarcoidosis are discussed. The physician should suspect sarcoidosis as the cause of bullous emphysema when young patients who have smoked relatively few pack-years present with emphysema or severe airflow obstruction. Additional clues are the presence of mediastinal adenopathy on a chest radiograph or a CT scan and a history consistent with extrapulmonary sarcoidosis.

The spectrum of adult adenovirus pneumonia.

Adenovirus pneumonia is endemic among infants and children. We report an adult case of adenovirus pneumonia causing respiratory failure and infection in the patient's spouse. The case in the spouse presented as an exacerbation of COPD.

The clinician's perspective on pneumothorax management.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the current practice habits among clinicians treating spontaneous pneumothorax and bronchopleural fistula. METHODS: Practice habits were determined by a randomized postal survey of 3,000 American College of Chest Physicians members. Group comparisons are performed by chi2 analysis with p<0.05 being significant. RESULTS: Four hundred nine respondents (13.6%) included 176 practicing pulmonologists (43.0%), 67 academic pulmonologists (16.4%), 102 thoracic surgeons (25.0%), and 64 others (15.6%). More than 50% of respondents treat a first small primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) by simple observation, a first small secondary spontaneous pneumothorax (SSP) by chest tube, persistent air leak in both PSP and SSP with chest tube+video-assisted thoracoscopy, and use a 20 to 24F chest tube in mechanically ventilated ARDS-related tension pneumothorax. First recurrences of PSP and SSP were treated by a variety of interventions that included simple observation (PSP=14%, SSP=4%), chest tube (22%/17%), chest tube+sclerosis (20%/16%), chest tube+video-assisted thoracoscopy (36%/48%), and chest tube+thoracotomy (5%/12%). The most popular sclerosing agents are doxycycline (48%), talc slurry (24%), and talc poudrage (19%). More than 75% of physicians intervened in a persistent air leak between 5 and 10 days. Chest tubes are initially placed to suction by 48% of respondents in PSP and removed >24 h after air leak ceases in 79%. Chest tube clamping prior to removal is employed by 67% of respondents. Significant differences exist between thoracic surgeons and pulmonologists with surgeons placing more chest tubes for first-time PSP and performing chest tube+video-assisted thoracoscopy for first recurrences of PSP more often than pulmonologists. Thoracic surgeons seldom use sclerosis in spontaneous pneumothorax compared to pulmonologists. CONCLUSIONS: Marked practice variation exists in clinicians' approaches to the management of spontaneous pneumothorax and bronchopleural fistulas that is partially explained by differences between pulmonologists and thoracic surgeons. A national consensus statement is needed to guide randomized studies in pneumothorax management.

Empyema thoracis. Therapeutic management and outcome.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We evaluated treatment and outcome of patients with thoracic empyema at a teaching institution. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective chart review over a 44-month period at a university hospital. PATIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS: Charts of patients with a hospital discharge diagnosis of thoracic empyema were reviewed. Age, symptoms, alcohol use, empyema etiology, culture results, number of loculations, date and success of each procedure, length of hospital stay, and hospital discharge status were recorded for each patient. Success of procedure, recovery time, time between procedures, and total hospitalization time were compared between procedures and between subgroups. RESULTS: Charts from 43 patients were reviewed. Twenty-four of 43 (56%) cases were parapneumonic empyemas. Forty of 43 (93%) patients had symptoms attributable to their empyema, with fever being the most common (65%). Seventy-nine procedures were needed to treat the 43 patients (1.84 procedures per patient). Success rates ranged from 11% (3/27) for tube thoracostomy to 95% (21/22) for decortication (p = 0.0001). Delay between procedures averaged 6.2 +/- 1.1 (mean +/- SEM) days between the first and second procedure (n = 27), and 10.4 +/- 5.1 days between the second and third procedure (n = 8). Mean recovery after successful intervention ranged from 9 to 19.3 days depending on the procedure (p = NS). Comparisons between multiloculated and uniloculated empyemas, parapneumonic and nonparapneumonic empyemas, and culture proven and biochemically proven empyemas showed no significant difference in procedure success rates or length of hospital stay. CONCLUSION: Multiple therapeutic options exist for the treatment of thoracic empyema. Optimal therapy requires selection of the most appropriate first procedure for each patient with early postprocedure imaging to avoid inordinate delays between interventions.

Lidocaine concentrations in bronchoscopic specimens.

We measured lidocaine concentrations in bronchoscopic specimens and found that bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) concentrations (16 +/- 7 micrograms/ml) were lower than those in bronchial washings (967 +/- 379 micrograms/ml [p less than 0.001]). Lidocaine concentrations in bronchial washings obtained "early" (991 +/- 505 micrograms/ml) compared with "late" (943 +/- 580 micrograms/ml) in the procedure did not differ (p = NS). High lidocaine concentrations sufficient to inhibit growth in culture of mycobacterial and fungal pathogens (greater than 5,000 micrograms/ml) occurred in one early and two late bronchial washings but no BAL specimens. No correlation between lidocaine dose and measured concentrations was noted in any specimen category; however, highest bronchial washing concentrations occurred with the use of greater than 250 mg of lidocaine. We conclude that BAL specimens are suitable for culturing pathogens that may be inhibited by lidocaine. Furthermore, collecting bronchial washings late in the procedure or limiting the lidocaine dosage do not reliably decrease measured lidocaine concentrations.

Chylous transport of amiodarone.

A patient receiving amiodarone for longstanding ventricular dysrhythmias presented with idiopathic chylothorax. During drainage of chylothorax for pleurodesis, serial plasma amiodarone concentrations declined while pleural fluid concentrations remained stable. Chylous transport of amiodarone and other lipid-bound drugs should be recognized to avert complications during chylothorax drainage.