• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.232-240
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• 1997

Background : Postprimary pulmonary tuberculosis is located mainly in upper lobes. The tuberculous lesion involving the lower lobes usually arises from the upper lobe cavity through endobronchial spread. When tuberculosis is confined to the lower lung field, it often masquerades as pneumonia, lung cancer, bronchiectasis, or lung abscess. Thus the correct diagnosis may be sometimes delayed for a long time. Methods : We carried out, retrospectively, a clinical study on 50 patients confirmed with lower lung field tuberculosis who visited the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at Hanyang University Hospital from January 1992 to December 1994. The following results were obtained. Results : Lower lung field tuberculosis without concomitant upper lobe disease occurred in fifty patients representing 6.9% of the total admission with active pulmonary tuberculosis over a period of 3 years. It occurred most frequently in the third decade but age distribution was relatively even. The mean age was 43 years old. Female was more frequently affected than male (male to female ratio 1 : 1.9). The most common symptom was cough(68%), followed by sputum(52%), fever(38%), and chest discomfort(30%). On chest X-ray of the 50patients, consolidation was the most common finding in 52%, followed by solitary nodule(22%) collapse(16%), cavitary lesion(10%), in decreasing order. The disease confined to the right side in 25 cases, left side 20 cases, and both sides 5 cases. Endobronchial tuberculosis (1) Endobronchial involvement was proved by bronchoscopic examination in 20 of 50patients. (2) Mean age was 44years old and female was more affected than man (male to female ratio 1 : 3). Sputum AFB stain and Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture were positive only in 50% of cases unlikely upper lobe tuberculosis, additional diagnostic methods were needed. In our study, bronchoscopic examination and percutaneous fine needle aspiration biopsy increased diagnostic yield by 18% and 32%, respectively. The most common associated condition was diabetes mellitus(18%) and others were anemia, anorexia nervosa, stomach cancer, and systemic steroid usage. Conclusion : When we find a lower lung field lesion, we should suspect tuberculosis if the patient has diabetes mellitus, anemia, systemic steroid usage, malignancy or other immune suppressed states. Because diagnostic yield of sputum AFB smear & Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture was low, additional diagnostic methods such as bronchoscopy and fine needle aspiration biopsy were needed.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.100-107
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• 1999

Purpose: This is to evaluate the acute complication, resection rate, and tumor down-staging after pre-operative concurrent chemoradiotherapy for stage IIIA (N2) non-small cell lung cancer. Materials and Methods Fifteen patients with non-small cell lung cancer were enrolled in this study from May 1997 to June 1998 in Samsung Medical Center. The median age of the patients was 61 (range, 45~67) years and male to female ratio was 12:3. Pathologic types were squamous cell carcinoma (11) and adenocarcinoma (4). Pre-operative clinical tumor stages were cT1 in 2 patients, cT2 in T2, and cT3 in 1 and all were N2. Ten patients were proved to be N2 with mediastinoscopic biopsy and five had clinically evident mediastinal Iymph node metastases on the chest CT scans. Pre-operative radiation therapy field included the primary tumor, the ipsilateral hilum, and the mediastinum. Total radiation dose was 45 Gy over 5 weeks with daily dose of 1.8 Gy. Pre-operative concurrent chemotherapy consisted of two cycles of intravenous cis-Platin (100 mg/m$^{2}$) on day 1 and oral Etoposide (50 mg/m$^{2}$/day) on days 1 through 14 with 4 weeks' interval. Surgery was followed after the pre-operative re-evaluation including chest CT scan in 3 weeks of the completion of the concurrent chemoradiotherapy if there was no evidence of disease progression. Results : Full dose radiation therapy was administered to all the 15 patients. Planned two cycles of chemotherapy was completed in 11 patients and one cycle was given to four. One treatment related death of acute respiratory distress syndrome occurred In 15 days of surgery. Hospital admission was required in three patients including one with radiation pneumonitis and two with neutropenic fever. Hematologic complications and other acute complications including esophagitis were tolerable. Resection rate was 92.3% (12/l3) in 13 patients excluding two patients who refused surgery. Pleural seeding was found in one patient after thoracotomy and tumor resection was not feasible. Post-operative tumor stagings were pT0 in 3 patients, pTl in 6, and pT2 in 3. Lymph node status findings were pN0 in 8 patients, pN1 in 1, and pN2 in 3. Pathologic tumor down-staging was 61.5% (8/13) including complete response in three patients ($23.7%). Tumor stage was unchanged in four patients (30.8%) and progression was in one (7.7%). Conclusions : Pre-operative concurrent chemoradiotherapy for Stage IIIA (N2) non-small cell lung cancer demonstrated satisfactory results with no increased severe acute complications. This treatment shceme deserves more patinet accrual with long-term follow-up.