Elevated eosinophils, IL5 and IL8 in induced sputum in asthma patients with accelerated FEV1 decline.

BACKGROUND: Some patients with asthma present with accelerated lung function decline. This phenomenon is mostly associated with severe exacerbations and with poor asthma control. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to detect the extent of FEV1 decline in patients with mild asthma and to discriminate clinical, functional and inflammatory factors associated with accelerated FEV1 decline. METHODS: We recruited 50 patients with mild asthma for pulmonary function testing and induced sputum sampling 12-15 years after the initial diagnosis. In 33 patients, from whom sputum of a good quality was obtained, inflammatory cells were counted and concentrations of cytokines IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ, angiogenin and VEGF in the sputum were measured by cytometric bead array. RESULTS: Eighteen of 33 patients presented with accelerated FEV1 decline of more than 30 ml/year, with a mean (SEM) of 43.2 (3.9) ml/year, compared to 15 control patients with a FEV1 decline of 14.4 (2.1) ml/year. In the accelerated FEV1 decline group, we found elevated sputum levels of IL5 with a median (IQR) of 1.8 (0.4-3.2) pg/ml vs. 0.2 (0.1-1.2) pg/ml, p = 0.04; IL8 with a mean (SEM) of 1503 (194) pg/ml vs. 938 (177) pg/ml, p = 0.04; and eosinophils with a median (IQR) of 223 (41-1020) cells/µl vs. 39 (1-190) cells/µl, p = 0.03. No significant differences in other measured parameters were detected between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Elevated sputum eosinophils, IL5 and IL8, which have a potential to stimulate airway remodelling, might be a useful non-invasive biomarkers and therapeutic targets of accelerated FEV1 decline in asthma patients.

Feasibility and safety of parietal pleural cryobiopsy during semi-rigid thoracoscopy.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Performing pleural biopsies during semi-rigid thoracoscopy is sometimes a difficult and time-consuming task because of the lack of mechanical power of dedicated flexible forceps in patients with thickened pleura. The purpose of this first ever pilot study was to test the feasibility of taking biopsy specimens by cryoprobe from the parietal pleura during semi-rigid thoracoscopy. Our aim was also to assess the diagnostic value and quality of specimens obtained, morphological features, feasibility of immunohistochemistry staining and possibility of DNA isolation. The secondary aim was to evaluate safety, tolerability and duration of the procedure. METHODS: Fifteen patients with pleural effusion of unknown origin that underwent semi-rigid thoracoscopy were included. Biopsies were obtained using a flexible autoclavable cryoprobe 20416-032 (Erbokryo CA, ERBE, Tübingen, Germany) 2.4 mm in diameter and a semi-rigid autoclavable Olympus LTF-160 (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) thoracoscope. RESULTS: Tissue samples were obtained from 14 patients (93.3%), three from each. Of the samples, 81% were easily interpretable and 19% were interpretable with some difficulty by the pathologist. The samples were of good quality, with the level of artifacts below 25%. The specimens were adequate for histological diagnosis, immunohistochemical staining and DNA isolation. There were no moderate or major bleeding problems after the biopsies; two patients experienced pain. The median duration of three cryobiopsies (per patient) was 4 min (range 3-6 min). CONCLUSIONS: Cryobiopsy during semi-rigid thoracoscopy appears worth to be evaluated in a larger prospective multicenter trial as our preliminary data were promising for efficacy and safety.

Semirigid thoracoscopy: an effective method for diagnosing pleural malignancies.

BACKGROUND: Thoracoscopy with a semirigid instrument is a recent technique for diagnosing pleural diseases. The purpose of this study was to report diagnostic yield and complications of the method. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with pleural effusion of unknown origin and/or pleural irregularities suspicious for pleural malignancy were included after less invasive means of diagnosis had failed. All procedures were performed under local anaesthesia with intravenous sedation/analgesia with a single point of entry with a semirigid thoracoscope (Olympus LTF-160). Data were collected prospectively between 2008 and 2012. RESULTS: One hundred fifteen thoracoscopies were performed on 111 patients. The median age was 65 years (range 28-86 years), 14.4% were female and 85.6% male. Seventy-three (65.8%) patients had malignant pleural disease (malignant mesothelioma, metastatic cancer) and 38 (34.2%) had benign disease. The sensitivity, negative predictive value, and accuracy of the procedure for malignancy were 96.0%, 93.0%, and 97.4% respectively. Pleurodesis was carried out in 34 patients; in 32 (94.1%) it was assessed as successful after 1 month. There were 24 adverse events: three empyemas/pleural infections, three bronchopleural fistulae after chest tube placement and lung re-expansion, five patients had excessive pain after pleurodesis, six patients had sedation-associated hypotension, and seven patients had self-limited fever after plerodesis. One patient died 11 days after a procedure for advanced carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: Semirigid thoracoscopy is an accurate and safe method for evaluation of pleural diseases and useful for therapeutic talc pleurodesis.

Rigid versus semi-rigid thoracoscopy for the diagnosis of pleural disease: a randomized pilot study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Thoracoscopy with a semi-rigid instrument is a recent technique successfully used for diagnosing pleural diseases. However, there are concerns about the diagnostic adequacy of biopsy samples obtained by semi-rigid procedures when compared with rigid thoracoscopy. The purpose of this study was to compare the size, quality and diagnostic adequacy of biopsy specimens obtained at semi-rigid and rigid thoracoscopy in a prospective, randomized fashion. METHODS: Patients with pleural effusion of unknown origin and/or pleural irregularities suspicious for pleural malignancy were included after less invasive means of diagnosis had failed. All procedures were performed under local anaesthesia with intravenous sedation/analgesia with a single point of entry. Patients were randomly assigned to a rigid instrument procedure (Olympus EndoEYE WA50120A, forceps) or semi-rigid instrument procedure (Olympus LTF-160, FB-55CR-1 forceps). RESULTS: Eighty-four patients were randomized. Five of them were excluded because of lack of pleural space. Thirty-eight patients were assigned to a rigid and 41 to a semi-rigid procedure, with mean follow up 24.1 (±8.1) months after the procedure. The average size of the sample obtained by rigid thoracoscopy was 24.7 mm(2) (±12.9), and 11.7 mm(2) (±7.6) by semi-rigid thoracoscopy. There were no differences in the quality and interpretability of the specimens assessed by the pathologist. The diagnostic accuracy was 100% for the rigid procedure and 97.6% for the semi-rigid procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The samples obtained by semi-rigid thoracoscopy were smaller, but of adequate quality. The diagnostic accuracy was comparable with that of rigid thoracoscopy in the evaluation of pleural disease.