Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0010200 (cough)
 23,843 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Two policies of palliative thoracic radiotherapy for non-small-cell lung cancer have been compared in a randomised multicentre controlled trial. A total of 369 patients with inoperable, histologically or cytologically confirmed disease, too advanced for radical 'curative' radiotherapy, and with their main symptoms related to the primary intrathoracic tumour even if metastases were present, were studied. They were allocated at random either to a regimen of 17 Gy given in two fractions of 8.5 Gy 1 week apart (F2 regimen), or to a conventional multifractionated regimen of either 30 Gy in ten fractions or 27 Gy in six fractions (a biologically equivalent dose), given daily except at weekends (FM regimen). On admission, 93% of the patients had cough, 47% haemoptysis, 57% chest pain, 58% anorexia, and 11% dysphagia. As assessed by the clinicians, palliation of the main symptoms was achieved in high proportions of patients ranging in the F2 group from 65% for cough to 81% for haemoptysis and in the FM group from 56% for cough to 86% for haemoptysis. Haemoptysis, chest pain, and anorexia disappeared for a time in well over half the patients with these symptoms, and cough in 37%. For all the main symptoms, the median duration of palliation was 50% or more of survival. Performance status improved in approximately half of the patients with a poor status on admission. All these results were similar in the two treatment groups. As assessed daily by the patients using a diary card, the quality of life deteriorated slightly during treatment but then improved steadily during the next 5 weeks. The proportion of patients with dysphagia increased considerably during treatment, but fell to the pretreatment level during the next 2 weeks. The results were similar in the two groups. Radiation myelopathy was suspected in one (F2) patient. There was no difference in survival between the two groups (log-rank test), the median survival time from the date of allocation being 179 days in the F2 and 177 days in the FM group. In the light of all the findings, the regimen of two fractions of 8.5 Gy given 1 week apart is recommended.
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PMID:Inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC): a Medical Research Council randomised trial of palliative radiotherapy with two fractions or ten fractions. Report to the Medical Research Council by its Lung Cancer Working Party. 170 40

A 64-year-old housewife was hospitalized because of cough and dyspnea. Chest X-rays on admission showed diffuse interstitial shadows and loss of lung volume, suggesting acute interstitial pneumonia. Pulmonary function tests revealed decreased vital capacity and severe hypoxemia. Bronchoalveolar lavage studies showed that total cell counts and a proportion of lymphocytes were increased. Lymphocytes increased in lavage fluid consisted mainly of T cells with an elevated CD4+/CD8+ ratio. Furthermore, these lymphocytes spontaneously proliferated and responded well to recombinant IL-2 when cultured in vitro for 5 days, suggesting that lymphocyte activation occurred in the lung. Such lavage findings and lymphocytes activation in association with the presence of HTLV-1-specific IgA antibody in lavage fluid have been demonstrated in patients with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy. In this patient positive for HTLV-1, however, it could not be determined whether the pulmonary lesions were primarily related to HTLV-1 infection, because no IgA antibody specific for HTLV-1 was demonstrated in lavage fluid. In conclusion, when pulmonary abnormalities are found in HTLV-1 carriers, we should be careful in determining whether such pulmonary involvements are etiologically related to HTLV-1 infection.
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PMID:[Bronchoalveolar lavage studies in a HTLV-1-positive case associated with interstitial pneumonia]. 189 91

Pulmonary blastoma (PB) is an uncommon primary lung malignancy. This neoplasm was first described by Barrett and Barnard in 1945. The tumor is composed of immature epithelial and mesenchymal tissues which may recapitulate early embryological lung development. Under the microscope, the globular component resembles immature bronchus and connective tissue as seen in embryonic lung. More than one hundred cases have been reported in the literature. PB is more frequent in older people and in males and tends to affect blacks at younger ages. Symptomatology varies from asymptomatic to symptoms of a non-specific pulmonary disease. Cough, hemoptysis, dyspnea, chest pain, respiratory distress, fever, anorexia and weight loss are the most common presenting features. The most common roentgenologic pattern is a well-demarcated peripheral lesion, encapsulated by compression or atelectatic lung tissue, although in some cases there is a tendency to lobulation and cavitation. The size of the mass varies from a small peripheral nodule to a mass occupying the entire lobe or hemithorax. The treatment of choice has been surgical excision, radiation and, in selected cases, a combination of chemotherapy with radiation. The prognosis of this malignancy is poor; overall five-year survival is approximately 16 percent. No correlation has been established between histopathologic criteria and survival. The factors that indicate poor prognosis are tumor recurrence, metastasis at initial presentation, tumor size over 5 cm and lymph node metastasis. Liver, central nervous system and bones are the most frequent location of distant metastases. A rare case is presented of a pulmonary blastoma with an upper lip metastasis occurring in a paraplegic male. Diagnosis was confirmed by autopsy findings.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
J Spinal Cord Med 1995 Jul
PMID:Pulmonary blastoma presenting as a solitary lip metastasis: case report and review of the literature. 755 26

An autopsy case of meningeal spreading of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) probably originating in the cervical cord was reported. In contrast to autopsy findings, main symptoms were similar to subacute meningitis, and any signs of myelopathy could not be detected during the clinical course. The patient was a 22-year-old man who was hospitalized because of a 2-week history of progressive headache following cough and slight fever. Vomiting and somnolence, developing 5 days before admission, were improved the day after a lumbar puncture performed at another hospital. On admission, meningeal signs, mild right abducens palsy, and depressed deep tendon reflexes were detected. There was no muscle weakness, sensory loss, or Babinski sign. Lumbar puncture yielded CSF with an opening pressure of 280 mmH2O, 21 mononuclear cells/mm3, a protein level of 645 mg/dl, and a glucose level of 7 mg/dl. Cytology for malignancy and multiple cultures were negative. Brain CT scan showed mild hydrocephalus and swelling of the brainstem and cerebellum. Intravenous administration of antimicrobial drugs was started and ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery was performed. During the third hospital week, however, meningeal signs progressed and somnolence reappeared, followed by progressive multiple cranial neuropathy and polyradiculopathy characterized by flaccid tetraparesis, muscle atrophy, and sensory impairment without a level. Babinski sign could not be detected. MRI revealed an intramedullary lesion in the lower cervical cord, swelling of the brainstem, cerebellum, spinal cord and nerve roots, and a diffuse or nodular thickning of leptomeninges. Repeated CSF cytology disclosed atypical cells. Examinations for extraneural malignancies were negative. During the 9th hospital week, flaccid tetraplegia progressed and stupor developed, and the patient died 2 weeks later. The pathological study was limited to the brain. The brain showed a diffuse opalescent thickening of the leptomeninges, especially over the ventral aspect of the brainstem and cerebellum, where the blood vesseles and cranial nerves were obscured. Histological examination revealed the appearance of GBM. The malignant cells filled the subarachnoid space, and to a variable extent penetrated the brainstem and cerebellum along perivascular spaces. Hypertrophied optic tracts and trigeminal nerves were also infiltrated by the cells. However, there were no mass lesions assumed to be primary ones anywhere in the cerebral parenchyma. Therefore, it was thought that GBM primarily growing in cervical cord metastasized to intracranial subarachnoid space by way of the cerebrospinal fluid pathway. Spinal cord GBM usually presents signs of myelopathy from the early stage. The present case was characterized by no signs of myelopathy during the clinical course. It is speculated that the intramedullary GBM, originating near the surface of cervical cord, had been rapidly disseminated into the subarachnoid space up to the intracranial cavity before myelopathy appeared, and caused cranial and spinal nerve roots dysfunction, which covered signs of myelopathy. Cord GBM should be always considered as a differential diagnesis in a case of subacute meningitis.
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PMID:[Meningeal seeding of spinal cord glioblastoma multiforme without any signs of myelopathy]. 872 Mar 35

In patients with non-metastatic but inoperable non-small cell lung cancer that is locally too extensive for radical radiotherapy (RT), but who have good performance status, it is important to determine whether thoracic RT should be the minimum that is required to palliate thoracic symptoms or whether treatment should be more intensive, with the aim of prolonging survival. A total of 509 such patients from 11 centres in the UK between November 1989 and October 1992 were admitted to a trial comparing palliative versus more intensive RT with respect to survival and quality of life. They were allocated at random to receive thoracic RT with either 17 Gy in two fractions (F2) 1 week apart (255 patients) or 39 Gy in 13 fractions (F13) 5 days per week (254 patients). Survival was better in the F13 group, the median survival periods being 7 months in the F2 group compared with 9 months in the F13 group, and the survival rates 31% and 36% at one year and 9% and 12% at 2 years, respectively (hazard ratio = 0.82; 95% CI0.69-0.99). There was a suggestion of a trend towards greater benefit in fitter patients. Metastases appeared earlier in the F2 group. As recorded by patients using the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist, the commonest symptoms on admission were cough, shortness of breath, tiredness, lack of energy, worrying and chest pain. These were more rapidly palliated by the F2 regimen. Psychological distress was generally lower in the F13 group. Three patients (two F13, one F2) exhibited evidence of myelopathy. As recorded by patients using a diary card, 76% of the F2 compared with 81% of the F13 patients had dysphagia associated with their RT. This was transient, lasting for a median of 6.5 days in the F2 group compared with 14 days in the F13 group. In conclusion, the F2 regimen had a more rapid palliative effect. In the F13 group, although treatment-related dysphagia was worse, survival was longer.
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PMID:Randomized trial of palliative two-fraction versus more intensive 13-fraction radiotherapy for patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer and good performance status. Medical Research Council Lung Cancer Working Party. 897 64

Pulmonary complications remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with higher level spinal cord injury. Neurologically intact individuals can cough in order to clear their air passage of lung secretions and foreign material. Patients with higher level cord injuries, with paralysis of the trunk and abdominal muscles, may not have the ability to generate an effective cough. If coughing is dependent on a caregiver, these patients will cough with reduced frequency. Because the innervation to the muscles involved in cough consists of nerves that arise from varying levels of the spinal cord, some patients with spinal cord injury have partial control over these muscles and thus can cough, though with reduced efficacy. Two hundred patients with varying levels of spinal cord injury were studied to determine if motor level and cough ability are correlated. Cough efficacy was measured using a peak expiratory flowmeter while patients were seated at 90 degrees. We concluded that there is indeed a direct relationship between motor level and peak expiratory flow produced during coughing.
Spinal Cord 1997 May
PMID:Cough in spinal cord injured patients: the relationship between motor level and peak expiratory flow. 916 Apr 54

Thirteen tetraplegic patients were included in the study of the effects of respiratory muscle training and of electrical stimulation of the abdominal muscles on their respiratory capabilities. Each patient was subjected for three 1 month lasting periods of the study: for inspiratory muscle training, expiratory muscle training and for a period without training. The sequence of these three periods was random for each patient. Respiratory tests (RT) measuring forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were conducted before and following each monthly period. Measurements were taken under four sets of conditions: the patients' unassisted efforts, their efforts combined with pressure manually applied by a therapist to the upper part of their abdomen, and their efforts accompanied by electrical stimulation (ES) of the abdominal muscles during the early phase of expirium, once triggered by the therapist and once by the patients themselves. RT values were increasing following respiratory muscle training and inspiratory training apparently had a slightly greater effect than its expiratory counterpart. The increments of values of RT were statistically significant (P < 0.05) after the inspiratory muscle training. RT measurements were greater when the patient's voluntary effort was combined with ES of abdominal muscles than when it was not. This study concludes that respiratory muscle training is a potentially effective approach and that ES of the abdominal muscles has potentials to improve coughing in tetraplegic patients.
Spinal Cord 1997 Aug
PMID:Effects of respiratory muscle training and electrical stimulation of abdominal muscles on respiratory capabilities in tetraplegic patients. 926 21

To determine the prevalence of respiratory symptoms in subjects with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), 180 subjects completed a standard respiratory questionnaire modified for subjects with limited mobility. Subjects were categorized as high tetraplegia (HT:C5 and above not requiring mechanical ventilation), low tetraplegia (LT: C6-8), high paraplegia (HP: T1-7), or low paraplegia (LP: T8-L3). Overall, 68% of subjects reported one or more respiratory symptom. Breathlessness, the most prevalent complaint, was associated with level of lesion: HT = 73%, LT = 58%, HP = 43% and LP = 29%, whereas complaints of cough, phlegm, cough and phlegm, and wheeze did not differ significantly among subjects in the four groups. Breathlessness occurred significantly more often in the group with HT during rest or following exposure to hot air or passive smoke. Awareness of phlegm or wheeze was reported with increased prevalence among subjects with tetraplegia who had complete injuries. Among subjects with tetraplegia, respiratory complaints did not differ significantly in current smokers, former smokers, and non-smokers, whereas among subjects with paraplegia, phlegm and wheeze were reported more frequently, among current smokers.
Spinal Cord 1997 Oct
PMID:Self-reported prevalence of pulmonary symptoms in subjects with spinal cord injury. 934 93

The efficacy of palliative radiotherapy of NSCLC was evaluated. 70 patients with histologically and cytologically confirmed advanced NSCLC were palliativelly irradiated in Department of Oncology I. Medical Faculty Charles University, Prague, in the period 1/93-12/94. 46 patients were evaluable for response (32 men, 14 women, median age 66.1, range 46-82). Median survival was 24.5 weeks. The most frequent intrathoracal symptoms were: cough 54%, chest pain 41%, dyspnoe 54%, hemoptysis 13%, VCS sy 7%. Palliation of the main symptoms has been achieved in 68% for cough, in 83% for hemoptysis, in 89% for chest pain, in 60% for dyspnoe and in 100% for VCS sy (in combination with chemotherapy). The median duration of palliation was 14.7 weeks for all the main symptoms, e.g. more than 50% of overall survival. Two fractionations schedules for the chest radiotherapy were used: 30 Gy/10 fr/2 wks (67%) or short regimens 8-20 Gy/1-2 fr/1-2 wks (33%). The results of palliation and survival are similar for both treatment schedules. Side effects has been infrequent, only 6 patients (13%) had dysphagia during the treatment. Radiation myelopathy has been not observed in any case. The therapeutical effect has been achieved in the more than 80% cases of pain, hemoptysis and VCS syndrome.
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PMID:[Palliative radiotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma]. 942 14

Syringomyelia is frequently accompanied by an extramedullary lesion at the foramen magnum, particularly a Chiari I malformation. Although syringomyelia associated with foramen magnum obstruction has characteristic clinical, radiological, and neuropathological features, its pathogenesis remains unclear. Currently prevalent hydrodynamical theories assert that obstruction of the subarachnoid space at the foramen magnum interferes with flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) between the spinal and the intracranial subarachnoid compartments. As a result, spinal CSF is driven into the spinal cord through the perivascular spaces to form a syrinx. These theories are implausible biophysically because none postulates a pump adequate to drive fluid through these spaces. None of the theories can explain why syrinx pressure is higher than CSF pressure; why extensive gliosis, edema, and vascular wall thickening regularly occur; and why the composition of syrinx fluid is not identical with that of CSF. A new theory of pathogenesis is proposed to address these difficulties. In the presence of subarachnoid obstruction at the foramen magnum, a variety of activities, such as assuming the erect posture, coughing or straining, and pulsatile fluctuations of CSF pressure during the cardiac cycle, produce transiently higher CSF pressure above the block than below it. There are corresponding changes in transmural venous and capillary pressure favoring dilation of vessels below the block and collapse of vessels above the block. The spatially uneven change of vessel caliber produces mechanical stress on the spinal cord, particularly caudal to the block. The mechanical stress, coupled with venous and capillary dilation, partially disrupt the blood-spinal cord barrier, allowing ultrafiltration of crystalloids and accumulation of a protein-poor fluid. The proposed theory is consistent with the neuropathological findings in syringomyelia and with the pressure and composition of syrinx fluid. It also accounts for the prolonged course of syringomyelia and its aggravation by cough, strain, and assumption of an erect posture. It contributes to understanding the low incidence and the morphology of syringobulbia. It explains the poorly understood presentation of foramen magnum meningiomas with symptoms of a mid- to low-cervical myelopathy. The theory also affords an understanding of the late recurrence of symptoms in children with hydromyelia who are treated with a ventricular shunt.
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PMID:The pathogenesis of syringomyelia associated with lesions at the foramen magnum: a critical review of existing theories and proposal of a new hypothesis. 1514 May 99


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