Tracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma masquerading asthma: A case report

BACKGROUND: Tracheal tumors are often misdiagnosed as asthma and are treated with inhaled steroids and bronchodilators without resolution. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, a patient with tracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma who had been previously diagnosed with difficult asthma was reported. The possibility of the presence of localized airway obstruction was raised when the flow-volume curve suggesting fixed airway obstruction, was obtained. CONCLUSION: The presenting case report emphasizes the fact that not all wheezes are asthma. It is critical to bear in mind that if a patient does not respond to appropriate anti-asthma therapy, localized obstructions should be ruled out before establishing the diagnosis of asthma

Phenotypic Distribution and Cluster Analysis in Asthma Patients

Objective: Several diagnostic and treatment algorithms regarding asthma have been described in previous guidelines. Yet these descriptions fail at reflecting different phenotypes of asthma encountered in clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to retrospectively analyze the data of asthma patients that have presented to the outpatient clinic and to group the patients according to the pre-bronchodilator FEV1 value, post-bronchodilator FEV1 value, age of asthma onset while evaluating the common characteristics of the different clusters

A Case of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis with Atypical Radiological Presentation

Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH) is a rare interstitial lung disease characterized by the accumulation of histiocytes within the airspaces or parenchyma of the lung. It almost always occurs in smokers between the ages of 20 and 40. Bronchoscopic interventions, such as transbronchial biopsy (TBB) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), should be performed before other more invasive procedures, but their diagnostic yield is lower. TBB is frequently non-diagnostic due to inadequate sampling. BAL cellular analysis may show alveolar macrophage predominance, and the detection of >5% of CD1a-positive cells in BAL fluid is highly suggestive and specific for the disease; however, this increase is not observed frequently. Surgical lung biopsy is the most definite modality for diagnosis. Smoking cessation must be recommended for all patients. The prognosis for most patients is relatively good, particularly if longitudinal lung function testing shows stability. Here, we presented a 48-year-old smoker with an unusual and unexpected radiological presentation

A Case of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis with Atypical Radiological Presentation

Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH) is a rare interstitial lung disease characterized by the accumulation of histiocytes within the airspaces or parenchyma of the lung. It almost always occurs in smokers between the ages of 20 and 40. Bronchoscopic interventions, such as transbronchial biopsy (TBB) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), should be performed before other more invasive procedures, but their diagnostic yield is lower. TBB is frequently non-diagnostic due to inadequate sampling. BAL cellular analysis may show alveolar macrophage predominance, and the detection of >5% of CD1a-positive cells in BAL fluid is highly suggestive and specific for the disease; however, this increase is not observed frequently. Surgical lung biopsy is the most definite modality for diagnosis. Smoking cessation must be recommended for all patients. The prognosis for most patients is relatively good, particularly if longitudinal lung function testing shows stability. Here, we presented a 48-year-old smoker with an unusual and unexpected radiological presentation

What can predict the exacerbation severity in asthma?

There are many well-defined risk factors for fatal asthma exacerbation; however, few data exist about the link between the severity of asthma and severity of exacerbation. The aim of this study was to determine if there is any patient and disease-related factor that predicts the severity of asthma exacerbation. The retrospective data of asthmatic patients followed up in our clinic were analyzed. Asthmatic patients who had at least one exacerbation were included. Patient and disease characteristics, comorbidities, and compliance were evaluated. We analyzed 335 asthma exacerbations of 189 asthmatic patients. Eighteen patients had intermittent asthma, 115 patients had mild persistent asthma, 45 patients had moderate persistent asthma, and 11 patients had severe persistent asthma. Of the 189 asthmatic patients 8.1% of the exacerbations were mild, 52.5% were moderate, and 39.4% were severe. There was a significant correlation between the severity of asthma and severity of exacerbation (r = 0.32; p < 0.001). When elderly (60 years old) and younger (< 60 years old) asthmatic patients were compared, elderly asthmatic patients had severe asthma exacerbation significantly at a higher rate than younger asthmatic patients (severe asthma exacerbation rates are 67.3 and 33.9% in elderly patients and younger asthmatic patients, respectively; p < 0.001). A significant correlation was found between the severity of exacerbation and age (r = 0.25; p < 0.001). Among the other patient and disease-related factors, asthma severity and older age were the only significant factors that contributed to the severity of exacerbation. These data show that older age as a patient-related factor and worse asthma severity as a disease-related factor could contribute to exacerbation severity in asthmatic patients

A cost-of-illness study estimating the direct cost per asthma exacerbation in Turkey

Objective: To calculate direct cost per asthma exacerbation at tertiary healthcare centers across Turkey

A retrospective analysis of practice patterns in the management of acute asthma attack across Turkey

Objective To evaluate patient characteristics and practice patterns in the management of acute asthma attack at tertiary care centers across Turke

A retrospective analysis of practice patterns in the management of acute asthma attack across Turkey

Objective To evaluate patient characteristics and practice patterns in the management of acute asthma attack at tertiary care centers across Turke