Is Serum Cystatin C a Predictor of Acute Pulmonary Thromboembolism in Patients with Normal Renal Function?

© The Author(s) 2013.Early diagnosis is the key point in the management of acute pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). There are no reports in the literature comparing the serum cystatin C levels in patients with acute PTE and normal volunteers. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed 50 patients with acute PTE and 45 healthy volunteers with normal renal function. The serum cystatin C level was significantly higher in the PTE group than in the non-PTE group (1.08 mg/dL [interquantile range (IQR) 0.79-1.56] and 0.85 mg/dL [IQR 0.77-1.03], respectively, P =.017). When determining the presence of PTE, the highest value of sensitivity and specificity was set at a cutoff value of 1.15 mg/dL with 93.3% specificity, 46.0% sensitivity, 88.5% positive predictive value, and 60.9% negative predictive value. In the multivariate model, cystatin C was significantly associated with the presence of PTE (odds ratio: 12.34, 95% CI 2.64-57.75). In conclusion, cystatin C may be an indicator of acute PTE in patients with normal renal function

Learning curve of conventional transbronchial needle aspiration

Background and AimsIntrathoracic lymphadenopathy usually occurs as a result of neoplasm, granulomatous diseases, infections or reactive hyperplasia. Conventional transbronchial needle aspiration (C-TBNA) is a cheap and safe procedure for diagnosing intrathoracic lymphadenopathy. The aim of this study was to assess the learning curve and diagnostic accuracy of C-TBNA after an observational education programme