AMERICAN THORACIC SOCIETY NEWS TIPS FOR JANUARY
LUNG CANCER RATES MUCH HIGHER IN FIBROTIC LUNG DISEASE
The incidence of lung cancer is increased markedly in patients with cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis, with their risk for the disease independent of smoking history. In this illness of unknown origin, the tiny air sacs of the lung (alveoli) become inflamed and their walls thicken, causing the lungs to become less elastic and efficient.
The researchers found a 0.9 percent rate of lung cancer in a control group of 5,884 persons without the illness. In the fibrosing alveolitis study group of 890 individuals, there was a 4 percent rate of lung cancer, which the lead author characterized as a dramatic increase. The study appears in the January issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX CAUSES BRONCHIAL CONSTRICTION
A study of seven lifelong nonsmoking asthmatics who had a history of heartburn, pain, and regurgitation, which suggested gastroesophageal reflux (GER), showed that episodes of GER caused bronchial constriction at night.
According to the investigators, these results demonstrate a significant role for spontaneous GER episodes in provoking and sustaining nocturnal bronchial constriction in asthma patients. During one night in a sleep lab, there were 72 short-term GER episodes among patients that averaged one minute, and 29 longer episodes averaging nine minutes each. The research is published in the January American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
CARE OF THE CHILD WITH CHRONIC TRACHEOSTOMY
An American Thoracic Society expert consensus panel has prepared the first standards for the care of the child with chronic tracheostomy. In this procedure for children whose pharynx is obstructed, surgeons make an incision in the trachea or windpipe and insert a tube to open an effective airway. Complications occur in 25 to 50 percent of all tracheostomies.
In general, young children (one to three years) have more problems than older ones. The most common difficulties involve recurrent infections among patients such as bronchitis. When children are ready to have their breathing tubes removed, pulmonologists prescribe downsizing of their tube over a period of several days or weeks. After the patient is able to tolerate the smallest tube, it is removed completely. The guidelines appear in the January issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
For the complete text of articles, see the ATS Journal Online Web Site at http://www.atsjournals.org. To request complimentary journalist access to the site, or to be put on a mailing list for a monthly ATS Media Memo and News Briefs, please contact Lori Atkins at (212) 315-6442, by fax at (212) 315-6455, or at [email protected].
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