Eosinophilic Pleural Effusion Induced by Paliperidone Palmitate: Case Report and Literature Review.

peer reviewedBACKGROUND: Eosinophilic pleural effusions are defined by an eosinophil count ≥ 10% in pleural fluid and represent approximately 10% of exudative pleural effusions. They are associated with a large spectrum of etiologies, both benign and malignant. Drug-induced eosinophilic pleural effusions remain rarely described. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: After ruling out other causes with a careful diagnostic assessment, we retain paliperidone as the etiology, given the disappearance of the pleural effusion after drug discontinuation. RESULTS: We report the first case of eosinophilic pleural effusion induced by paliperidone palmitate treatment. CONCLUSION: After considering other etiologies, drug-induced eosinophilic pleural effusion should be sought

Y a-t-il une place pour les β-bloquants dans les maladies pulmonaires obstructives ?

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COPD: genetics and environmental interactions

peer reviewedSmoking is the main environmental risk factor of COPD and accounts for 85% to 90% of COPD. However, 10-15% of COPD patients have never smoked and only a fraction of smokers ever develop COPD. Indeed, genetic and environmental (pollution, occupational and infectious) factors, also influence the risk of developing COPD. Finaly COPD must be considered as the clinical consequence of multiple complex interactions between environmental factors and genetic susceptibility. The latter is not clearly understood, with the exception of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. In this article, we present the different aspects of this complex disease which is primarily environmental

Update in Treatment of Non Small Cell Lung Cancer

Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and "biological" treatment are differently used in the treatment of non small cell lung cancer. Surgery is the cornerstone of the stages I-II treatment; chemotherapy is dominant in the treatment of metastatic stage, but is more and more used in earlier stages. A large discussion is still open for advanced non metastatic stages, even if the association of the 3 major modalities is extensively studied. We discuss our position in this setting

Lung cancer. Epidemiology and etiologic factors

peer reviewedLung cancer is the most frequent cause of death by cancer worldwide. Despite improvements in the treatment the vital prognosis remains poor with an estimated 5-year survival rate of 15 % all stages together. Even if some environmental exposure may favour apparition of the disease, tobacco smoking is by far the greatest risk factor for developing lung cancer. Recent progresses have been made on the identification of cellular mechanisms and genetic abnormalities that make the patients more prone to develop lung cancer

Clinical case of the month. Carrington's disease: idiopathic chronic eosinophilic pneumonia

peer reviewedIdiopathic Chronic Eosinophilic Pneumonia (ICEP) or Carrington's disease is a rare disease, exclusively pulmonary, and of an unknown origin. Connective tissues of the lungs are infiltrated by eosinophilic cell elements. This illness is progressive, consisting of dyspnea, cough and thoracic pain. In addition, the general condition is impaired. The average delay between onset of symptoms and discovery of chest radiographic opacities is often longer than 3-4 months. Symptoms and chest X-ray quickly improve under corticosteroid treatment. In the future, new research could lead to alternative treatments. We report the case of a woman with ICEP. We shall discuss the diagnostic approach, envisage the potential complications and describe the treatment of the disease

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum caused by bleomycin-induced pneumonitis

We report the case of a 24-yr-old woman treated for lymphoma who developed bleomycin-induced intersitial pneumonia. This interstitial pneumonia was complicated by spontaneous pneumomediastinum. Pneumomediastinum is an unfrequent side effect of high dose bleomycin-induced pneumonitis (BIP) and we describe the first case occurring with low-dose of bleomycin

Image of the month: pulmonary artery agenesis associated with right lung hypoplasia

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