• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.67 no.6
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• pp.512-516
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• 2009

Background: Pulmonary paragonimiasis is a subacute to chronic inflammatory disease of the lung caused by lung flukes that result in prolonged inflammation and mechanical injury to the bronchi. However, there are few reports on the bronchoscopic findings of pulmonary paragonimiasis. This report describes the bronchoscopic findings of pulmonary paragonimiasis. Methods: The bronchosocpic findings of 30 patients (20 males, median age 50 years) with pulmonary paragonimiasis between May 1995 and December 2007 were reviewed retrospectively. Results: The diagnoses were based on a positive serologic test results for Paragonimus-specific antibodies in 13 patients (43%), or the detection of Paragonimus eggs in the sputum, bronchial washing fluid, or lung biopsy specimens in 17 patients (57%). The bronchoscopic examinations revealed endobronchial lesions in 17 patients (57%), which were located within the segmental bronchi in 10 patients (59%), lobar bronchi in 6 patients (35%) and main bronchi in 1 patient (6%). The bronchoscopic characteristics of endobronchial lesions were edematous swelling of the mucosa (16/17, 94%) and mucosal nodularity (4/17, 24%), accompanied by bronchial stenosis in 16 patients (94%). Paragonimus eggs were detected in the bronchial washing fluid of 9 out of the 17 patients with endobronchial lesions. The bronchial mucosal biopsy specimens showed evidence of chronic inflammation with eosinophilic infiltration in 6 out of 11 patients (55%). However, no adult fluke or ova were found in the bronchial tissue. Conclusion: Bronchial stenosis with mucosal changes including edematous swelling and mucosal nodularity is the most common bronchoscopic finding of pulmonary paragonimiasis.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.449-456
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• 2017

Objective : Coptis rhizoma is traditional herb in Korean medicine, and Pelargonium sidoides extract has been used for relief of acute bronchitis in Western medicine. The present study examined the antibacterial effect of fusion formulation of Coptis rhizoma extract and Pelargonium sidoides extract against bronchial diseases bacteria. Methods : Test sample, fusion formulation of Korean and Western medicine, was prepared by mixing Coptis rhizoma extract and Pelargonium sidoides extract at a ratio of 1:2 (w/w). Antimicrobial properties of test sample were determined by agar diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against bronchus diseases bacteria. Results : In agar diffusion assay, the highest amount of test sample (4 mg/disk) exhibited antibacterial activity against all microorganisms tested. Test sample showed the high activity for S. aureus (19.5 mm), C. diptheriae (16.5 mm), A. fumigatus (19.3 mm), F. nucleatum (22.7 mm) and Mycobactrium sp. (17.3 mm), whereas it showed a low activity for K. pneumonia (9.7 mm). The MIC value was determined as $250{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ against C. diptheriae. Test sample showed better growth inhibitory effects against S. aureus and A. fumigatus with the MIC valus of $125{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. Conclusion : These results suggest the possibility of application to chronic respiratory diseases of fusion formulation of Korean and Western medicine, which was prepared with Coptis rhizoma extract and Pelargonium sidoides extract.

• The Journal of the Korean life insurance medical association
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.20-27
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• 2011

Lung diseases are common in general population and they are also important in insurance medicine. According to current textbook of insurance medicine, there are references of western research which performed at 1980s and early 2000. It's necessary to update the reference. In this article, several respiratory disorders such as Kartagener's syndrome, bronchial asthma, drug-resistant tuberculosis, etc are reviewed in terms of insurance medicine. Reference articles were used in Korean study, if possible. I hope this article being a role of helping many insurance doctors and underwriters in Korea.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.77 no.6
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• pp.237-242
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• 2014

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway that comprises a variety of etiologies and inflammatory phenotypes. Clinically, there is a wide range of patients with varying severities and responses to individual drugs. The introduction of inhaled corticosteroid therapy has dramatically changed the treatment of asthma. Recent development of new therapies suggests the possibility of another breakthrough. These can be categorized as follows: anti-cytokine therapies that usually target eosinophilic inflammation, sublingual immunotherapy, and bronchial thermoplasty. In this paper, we will review the major articles related to asthma treatment that were published in 2013.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.6
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• pp.411-417
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• 2010

This review highlights articles pertaining to the following 5 topics: the relationship between asthma, allergic and non-allergic rhinitis; the novel asthma phenotypes using cluster analysis; the diagnostic properties of inhaled dry-powder mannitol for the diagnosis of asthma; the value of mepolizumab therapy in exacerbations of refractory eosinophilic asthma; the role of bronchial thermoplasty in the treatment of severe asthma.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.68 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2010

Background: In previous study, most patients with bronchial anthracofibrosis (BAF) were non-miners, and non-occupational old aged females. However, the clinical significance of BAF in patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) is unknown. Methods: Among patients with CWP who transferred to our hospital for an evaluation of associated pulmonary diseases, 32 patients who had undergone a bronchofibroscopy (BFS) and chest computed tomography (CT) examination were evaluated for the association of the BAF using a retrospective chart review. Results: Nine of the 32 CWP patients (28%) were complicated with BAF. Four of the 16 simple CWP patients (25%) were complicated with BAF. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) classification by profusion, 2 out of 3 patients in category 1, 1 out of 8 patients in category 2 and 1 out of 3 patients in category 3 were complicated with BAF. Five out of 16 complicated CWP patients were complicated with BAF. Three out of 7 patients in type A and 2 out of 5 patients in type C were complicated with BAF. CWP patients with BAF had significantly greater multiple bronchial thickening and multiple mediastinal or hilar lymph node enlargement than the CWP patients without BAF. There was no difference in the other clinical features between the CWP patients with BAF and those without BAF. Conclusion: Many CWP patients were complicated with BAF. The occurrence of BAF was not associated with the severity of CWP progression. Therefore, a careful evaluation of the airway with a bronchoscopy examination and chest CT is warranted for BAF complicated CWP patients who present with respiratory symptoms and signs, even ILO class category 1 simple CWP patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.6
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• pp.442-449
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• 2010

Background: Melanoma antigen genes (MAGE) are expressed in many human malignant cells and are silent in normal tissues other than in testis and in placenta. But MAGE expression in benign lung diseases, such as pulmonary tuberculosis or cases with severe inflammation, needs further evaluation to overcome false-positive findings. We evaluated detection rates of the melanoma antigen genes (MAGE) RT-nested PCR in bronchoscopic washing samples from patients with benign lung disease, as well as in patients with malignancies. Methods: Bronchial washing fluid from 122 patients was used for cytological examination and MAGE gene detection using RT-nested-PCR of common A1-6 mRNA. We compared the results from the RT-nested PCR and the pathologic or bacteriologic diagnosis. We also analyzed the expression rate and false positive rate of MAGE gene. Results: Among 122 subjects, lung cancer was diagnosed in 23 patients and benign lung disease was diagnosed in 99 patients. In patients with lung cancer, the positive rate of MAGE expression was 47.8% (11/23) and in benign lung disease group, the expression rate was 14.1% (14/99). Among benign lung disease group, the expression rate of MAGE gene (25.0%) in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (11/44) was especially high. Conclusion: MAGE A1-6 RT-nested PCR of bronchial washing fluid can be used as a complementary method in lung cancer, but that test results in a high false positive rate in tuberculosis patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.590-599
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• 1996

Background : Bronchial artery embolization has been established as an effective means to control hemoptysis, especially in patients with decreased pulmonary function and those with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We evaluated the effect of arterial embolization in immediate control of massive hemoptysis and investigated the clinical and angiographic characteristics and the course of patients with reccurrent hemoptysis after initial succeseful embolization. Another purpose of this study was to find predictive that cause rebleeding after bronchial artery embolization. Method : We reviewed 47 cases that underwent bronchial artery embolization for the management of massive hemoptysis, retrospectively. We analyzed angiographic findings in all cases before bronchial artery embolization and also reviewed the angiographic findings of patients that underwent additional bronchial artery embolization for the control of reccurrent hemoptysis to find the clauses of rebleeding. Results : 1) Underlying causes of hemoptysis were pulmonary tuberculosis(n=35), bronchiectasis(n=5), aspergilloma(n=2), lung cancer(n=2), pulmonary A-V malformation(n=1), and unknown cases(n=2). 2) Overal immediate success rate was 94%(n=44), an6 recurrence rate was 40%(n=19). 3) The prognostic factors such as bilaterality, systemic-pulmonary artery shunt, multiple feeding arteries and degree of neovascularity were not statistically correlated with rebleeding tendency (p value>0.05). 4) At additional bronchial artery embolization, Revealed recannalization of previous embolized arteries were 14/18cases(78%) and the presence of new deeding arteries was 8/18cases(44%). 5) The complications(31cases, 66%) such as fever, chest pain, cough, voiding difficulty, paralytic ileus, motor and sensory change of lower extremity, atelectasis and splenic infarction were occured. Conclusion : Recannalization of previous embolized arteries is the major cause of recurrence after bronchial artery embolization. Despite high recurrence rate of hemoptysis, bronchial artery embolization for management of massive hemoptysis is a effective and saute procedure in immediate bleeding control.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.530-535
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• 2005

Background and Aims : Cigarette smoking induces an inflammatory response in the airways, which may play a key role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is one of the cytokines that plays an important role in inducing bronchial inflammation. The aim of this study was to determine if the level of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, Interleukin-6, is increased when the bronchial epithelial cells are exposed to a cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and an extract from stop smoking-aiding cigarettes, and examined the safety of these commercially available stop smoking-aiding cigarettes. Method : Bronchial epithelial cells were exposed to CSE from cigarette and stop smoking-aiding cigarettes for 24 hours. ELISA was used to measure the IL-6 levels in the supernatant from each condition. The IL-6 mRNA levels were measured by Taqman Real time RT-PCR. N-acetyl-L-cysteine(NAC) was added to each condition to determine if NAC can inhibit the release of IL-6 from the bronchial epithelial cells when they are exposed to CSE from cigarette and stop smoking-aiding cigarettes. Result : When bronchial epithelial cells were exposed to a CSE from cigarettes and stop smoking-aiding cigarettes, each type of CSE stimulated IL-6 production from the bronchial epithelial cells. The IL-6 mRNA level in the Bronchial epithelial cells was also elevated and NAC was found to inhibit the release of IL-6 from bronchial epithelial cells when they were exposed to the CSE from cigarettes and stop smoking-aiding cigarettes. Conclusion : Commercially available stop smoking-aiding cigarette can induce bronchial inflammation and can be harmful to smokers. Therefore, the safety of these cigarettes for smoking cessation should be evaluated.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.548-554
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• 1995

Background: Cardiogenic pulmonary edema increases nonspecific airway responsiveness in humans and animals. Increased extravascular lung water from overt pulmonary edema to subclinical interstitial edema is a common finding in patients with chronic renal failure. Several studies carried out to assess pulmonary function disturbances in this condition have documented a reduction in forced expiratory volume that usually reverses after hemodialysis, suggesting airway edema as the underlying mechanism. This interstitial edema may also lead to nonspecific bronchial hyperresponsiveness. We hypothesized that patients with chronic renal failure may present nonspecific bronchial hyperresponsiveness due to subclinical interstitial pulmonary edema. Methods: We studied 18 chronic renal failure undergoing regular hemodialysis 3 times a week(New York Heart Association Class II) without concomittent disease. These patients were checked pulmonary function test and metacholine provocation test before hemodialysis and same procedure was repeated if responsive, after hemodialysis. Results: 1) 12 out of 18 patients before hemodialysis were reactive in metacholine provocation test(66.7%) before hemodialysis. This airway hyperresponsiveness were decreased after hemodialysis. 2) Pulmonary function was improved after hemodialysis and change in $FEV_1$ was correlated with change in weight(r=-0.62, p<0.01). 3) There was a close correlation between log $PD_{20}$ and $FEF_{25}$, which is one of the variables of the peripheral airways(r=0.58, p<0.05). Conclusion: We speculated interstitial pulmonary edema may play a significant role in bronchial hyperresponsiveness and lung function impaired in patients with chronic renal failure.