[Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia]. / Pneumopathie organisée cryptogénique.

INTRODUCTION: Organizing pneumonia is a particular type of inflammatory reaction of the lung which gives rise to a clinico-pathological syndrome. It is called "secondary" when a cause such as an infection, a drug toxicity, or a connective tissue disease can be identified, or "cryptogenic" when no cause is identified. The clinical picture is usually characterized by the subacute onset of fever, fatigue, cough and dyspnea, with multiple subpleural areas of consolidation on thoracic imaging. STATE OF THE ART: Organizing pneumonia is characterised by the presence of buds of endoalveolar connective tissue. These result from an injury to the alveolar epithelium, followed by the deposition of fibrin in the alveolar spaces, and the migration of fibroblasts which produce a myxoid endoalveolar matrix. A remarkable feature of organizing pneumonia is the complete disappearance of these endoalveolar buds with corticosteroid treatment, in sharp contrast with what is seen in pulmonary fibrosis. The clinical response to corticosteroids is usually prompt and excellent. Relapses are frequent but usually benign. PERSPECTIVES AND CONCLUSION: As the clinical, imaging and pathological characteristics of organizing pneumonia are now well established, many questions remain unanswered, such as the mechanisms involved in the complete reversibility of the pulmonary lesions, and the role of steroid-sparing treatments such as immunomodulatory macrolides.

[The asthma-COPD overlap syndrome]. / Le syndrome de chevauchement asthme-BPCO.

Asthma and COPD are often considered mutually exclusive diseases, mainly because of the inclusion of only typical cases of asthma or COPD in therapeutic clinical trials. However, clinicians are unable to distinguish between both conditions in a substantial number of patients, a situation that may be called the "asthma-COPD overlap syndrome". It is important to recognize this entity, as patients suffering from an asthma-COPD overlap syndrome are more symptomatic, have a poorer quality of life and suffer more exacerbations than patients with asthma or COPD alone. In the absence of studies specifically designed to assess the treatment modalities for these patients, it appears wise to prescribe inhaled corticosteroids early in the course of the disease, considering their established efficacy in asthma.

[Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: recent diagnostic and therapeutic advances]. / Fibrose pulmonaire idiopathique: nouveautés diagnostiques et thérapeutiques.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most frequent of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias. It is a progressive disorderwith a poor prognosis. Its diagnosis requires the careful exclusion of potential causes, and a pattern of usual interstitial pneumonia at high-resolution computed tomography or video-assisted surgical lung biopsy. Several recent randomized trials have profoundly modified the therapeutic management of IPF. The combination of prednisone and azathioprine, often prescribed until recently, has been shown to be harmful and is no longer indicated. N-acetylcystein, also used in the past decade, failed to show an efficacy. However, two new antifibrotic drugs, pirfenidone and nintedanib, have for the first time proven effective in slowing disease progression.

[Pulmonary medicine 2012: news for the general practitioner]. / Pneumologie.

This review reports on papers published in 2012 that will most likely impact on daily medical practice in four different areas of pulmonary medicine. How should treatment of asthma with inhaled corticosteroids be adjusted on the long run? Should idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis receive treatment with immunosuppressive drugs? Is a long-term treatment with azithromycine for bronchiectasis supported by evidence, apart from patients with cystic fibrosis? And finally, can treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive pressure (CPAP) prevent the occurrence of new, systemic hypertension?