Objective To investigate the efficacy and influential factors of interventional therapy for post-intubation tracheal stenosis. Methods The clinical data of 69 patients with tracheal stenosis after tracheal intubation in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from February 2010 to March 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The effects of interventional treatment for tracheal stenosis after intubation were evaluated by reviewing the medical records and telephone follow-up for more than 1 year. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the influential factors. Results The study recruited 69 patients with the median age of 44 years. After the interventional treatment, ATS dyspnea score decreased from (2.41±0.76) points to (0.65±0.62) points ( P<0.01), the diameter of airway lumen increased from (4.24±2.05)mm to (10.57±3.14)mm ( P<0.01). The short-term effective rate of interventional therapy was 92.8% (64/69) but the restenosis rate in 1 month, 3 months and 1 year after interventional treatment were 56.5%, 26.1% and 36.2%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that diabetes (OR=2.819, 95%CI 1.973-4.062）, shortness of breath score >3 points (OR=13.816, 95%CI 5.848-32.641）, trachea stenosis diameter <4.5 mm (OR=7.482, 95%CI 4.015-13.943), tracheal stenosis grade ≥4 (OR=3.815, 95%CI 2.258-6.447), stenosis in the upper trachea (OR=5.173, 95%CI 3.218-8.316) were risk factors of interventional therapy for post-intubation tracheal stenosis. Conclusions The general efficacy of interventional treatment for tracheal stenosis after tracheal intubation is poor, and the recurrence rate is still high. The high degree of tracheal stenosis, diabetes mellitus and upper tracheal stenosis are important factors that affect the efficacy of respiratory interventional therapy.
We reported a 65-year-old female who was admitted to our institute with "recurrent subxiphoid pain accompanied by dyspnea for more than 10 days". Electrocardiogram examination suggested acute extensive anterior ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. Preoperative transthoracic echocardiography suggested ventricular septal rupture. The patient was planned for the repair of ventricular septal rupture with cardiopulmonary bypass. The formation of left ventricular aneurysm was diagnosed by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). The surgeon decided to abdopt the modified incision of left ventricular approach guided by TEE, which greatly improved the prognosis of the patient. The surgery duration was 197 min, aortic cross-clamping time was 56 min, cardiopulmonary bypass time was 69 min, and the patient was safely admitted to ICU after the surgery. Extubation was performed on the first day postoperatively, and the intra-aortic balloon pump support was retreated on the second day postoperatively. Postoperative echocardiography showed that no obvious residual shunt was observed after ventricular septal repairment and ventricular aneurysm resection. The patient was discharged on the 12th day after the surgery. Additionally, the mental condition was good and daily activities were not limited within 6 months postoperatively.
Objective To evaluate the safety and diagnostic yield of transbronchial lung biopsy ( TBLB) performed in mechanically ventilated patients. Methods TBLB was performed in 19 mechanically ventilated patients form January 2001 to September 2007 in the ICU of Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases. The results of clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. Results A total of 19 patients were analyzed[ 9 female, 10 male, with amean age of ( 57. 94 ±15. 00) years] . Specific diagnoses were made in 9 cases ( 47. 4% ) by TBLB. The diseases included pulmonary aspergillus pneumonia in 4 cases ( 21. 0% ) ,lung cancer in 2 cases ( 10. 5% ) , radioactive pneumonia in 1 case( 5. 3% ) , Goodpasture’s syndrome in1case( 5. 3% ) , pulmonary tuberculosis in 1 case ( 5. 3% ) . Ten cases ( 52. 6% ) were not able to establish confirmed diagnoses including pulmonary interstitial fibrosis in 6 cases( 31. 6% ) and lung tissue nonspecific changes in 4 cases( 21. 0% ) . The treatment was adjusted according to the results of TBLB in 10 patients( 52. 6% ) . Complications associated with this procedure included episodes of bronchial hemorrhage of ≥30 mL in 4 cases ( 21. 0% ) , transient oxygen desaturation in 11 cases ( 57. 9% ) , hypotension in 5 cases ( 26. 3% ) , and transient tachycardia in 1 case ( 5. 3% ) without death and pneumothorax. Conclusions TBLB can be performed safely and has a diagnostic value in mechanically ventilated patients. TBLB should be considered as a diagnostic procedure before open lung biopsy.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the difference between the tracheal intubation connected to conventional ventilation (TI-CV) and rigid bronchoscopy connected to high frequency ventilation (RB-HFV) under general anesthesia on patients with transbronchial cryobiopsy (TBCB).MethodA prospective, randomized, controlled trial was conducted in interstitial lung disease patients with TBCB from August 2018 to February 2019 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. According to the different methods of intubation, the patients were divided to a TI-CV group and a RB-HFV group randomly. The operating duration, extubation duration, total anesthesia time, heart rate, blood pressure and arterial blood gas analysis were collected and analyzed.ResultsSixty-five patients were enrolled. There were 33 patients with an average age of (48.0±15.0) years in TI-CV group and 32 patients with an average age of (48.8±10.8) years in RB-HFV group. The basic line of body mass index, pulmonary function (FEV1, FVC and DLCO), arterial blood gas (pH, PaO2 and PaCO2) and heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP) had no significant differences between two groups. At the first 5 minutes of operation, the pH was (7.34±0.06) and (7.26±0.06), and the PaCO2 was (48.82±9.53) and (62.76±9.80) mm Hg in TI-CV group and RB-HFV group respectively, with significant differences (P=0.000). At the end of operation, the pH was (7.33±0.06) and (7.21±0.08), the PaCO2 was (48.91±10.49) and (70.93±14.83) mm Hg, the HR were (79.6±21.1) and (93.8±18.7) bpm, the MAP were (72.15±13.03) and (82.63±15.65) mm Hg in TI-CV group and RB-HFV group respectively, with significant differences (P<0.05). There were no differences in the operating duration and extubation duration between two groups. The total anesthesia time was (47.4±8.8) and (53.3±11.6) min with significant difference (P=0.017). Five minutes after the extubation, there were no significant difference in the pH, PaO2, PaCO2, HR and MAP between two groups. No serious complications occurred in either group.ConclusionsCompared with rigid bronchoscopy, TI-CV under general anesthesia is more conducive to maintain effective ventilation, and maintain the HR and MAP stable during the TBCB procedure. TBCB procedure should be performed by TI-CV under general anesthesia in patients with poor cardiopulmonary function.
ObjectiveTo investigate the static pulmonary function and cardiopulmonary exercise function of convalescent patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after discharge.MethodsPulmonary function and cardiopulmonary exercise capacity of COVID-19 patients who admitted to our hospital from January to March 2020 were analyzed. The patients were divided into a non-critical group (3 cases of moderate illness, 2 cases of severe illness) and a critical group (5 cases of critical illness). Five of the 10 patients completed spirometry on day 14 after discharge. All patients performed spirometry, diffusion capacity and cardiopulmonary exercise test around 28 days post-discharge. Ten healthy subjects were used as a control group.ResultsForced expiratory volume in one second of percent predicted (FEV1%pred), forced vital capacity of percent predicted (FVC%pred), the FEV1/FVC ratio (FEV1/FVC), peak expiratory flow of percent predicted (PEF%pred) and mean forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of percent predicted (FEF25%-75%%pred) of COVID-19 group were all within normal ranges, and there were no significant difference between COVID-19 group and the healthy group (P>0.05). Diffusion capacity (the carbon monoxide diffusion capacity of percent predicted, DLCO%pred) decreased in 3 patients. The peak oxygen uptake of percent predicted (PeakVO2%pred), oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES), Oxygen pulse of percent predicted (VO2/HR%pred) in COVID-19 group decreased and were statistically significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in ventilatory equivalents for carbon dioxide at anaerobic threshold (VE/VCO2@AT) and the slope of ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide (VE/VCO2 slope) between the two groups (P>0.05). Compared to the non-critical group, the critical group displayed significantly lower FVC%pred and VO2/HR%pred (P<0.05). A decrease in PeakVO2%pred was observed in critical group, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P>0.05). The FVC%pred and PEF%pred were significantly improved in 5 COVID-19 convalescents on Day 28 after discharge when comparing with day 14 (P<0.05).ConclusionsIn the first month after discharge, recovered COVID-19 patients mainly presented decreased exercise endurance in cardiopulmonary function tests.There are also some survivors with reduced diffusion function, but the impaired lung function of COVID-19 patients might return over time.
Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and diagnosis and treatment of fungal pulmonary embolism, and to improve the understanding of this disease. Methods The diagnosis and treatment of two patients with fungal main pulmonary embolism in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University were summarized and analyzed. Literatures were retrieved from Wanfang database, China national knowledge internet database and Pubmed database with search terms of “pulmonary embolism AND mucor”, “pulmonary embolism AND aspergillus”, “pulmonary embolism AND fungi”, “pulmonary embolism AND Candida”, “pulmonary embolism AND cryptococcus”. Results Case 1, a 53-year-old female was referred, with cough, high fever, breathlessness for 2 years, chest pain for 1 year. The patient had rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus history with long term prednisone treatment. Finally, the patient was diagnosed main pulmonary artery embolism (aspergillus) and disseminated aspergillosis. Although treatment with voriconazole, amphotericin B, and caspofungin were given for more than 1 year, the patient died with uncontrolled aspergillus infection. Case 2, a 67-year-old female was referred with cough, chest distress, chest pain for 8 months, breathlessness for 6 months. The patient had a history of chronic viral hepatitis C. Finally the patient was diagnosed as main pulmonary artery embolism and pulmonary valve endocarditis (aspergillus, mucor). The patient underwent pulmonary artery lesion resection and tricuspid valvuloplasty (DeVega method). After surgery, the patient was delivered with amphotericin B and posaconazole for 3 months. During the follow-up period of 1 year, the patient recovered almost totally without relapse signs. A total of 42 cases of fungal pulmonary embolism from 1980 to 2021 were retrieved (including 2 cases in this article), and 6 of these cases were main pulmonary artery embolism. Of all the cases, the median age was 49 years and 22 (54.3%) were males. 20 cases were immunocompromised. The infection pathogens included: Aspergillus (21, 50%), Candida (11, 26.2%), Mucor (7, 16.7%), and Aspergillus combined with Mucor (1, 2.5%), Coccidioides spp (1, 2.5%), and Cryptococcus (1, 2.5%). Fifteen cases were complicated with infection other than cardiopulmonary. Twenty-two cases were treated with surgery combined with antifungal medicine, and 9 cases with antifungal medicine alone. Twenty-two cases were dead and the overall mortality rate was 52.4%. There were statistically significant differences in the effects of fungal species, dissemination of other organs other than the heart and lung, and surgical treatment on the survival rate. The survival rate of different fungal species was significantly different. Dissemination to organs other than the heart and lungs reduces survival, whereas surgical treatment improves survival. Conclusions Fungal pulmonary embolism, a disease with high mortality, rarely involves the main pulmonary artery. The possibility of fungal pulmonary embolism should be considered when the cause of pulmonary thrombosis is unknown and the anticoagulant effect is poor. Although there is no unified treatment at present, early surgical combined with standard antifungal treatment may improve the prognosis of patients.
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics of tracheobronchial stenosis due to tracheobronchial tuberculosis (TBTB).MethodsWe recruited all patients diagnosed as TBTB within one year from four centers of Guangdong province, southern China. The prevalence, risk factors and bronchoscopy characteristics of tracheobronchial stenosis were analyzed. The location and pathological type of stenosis were also compared between different genders.ResultsA total of 345 patients were diagnosed with TBTB, 206 cases (59.7%) of which were concomitant with varying degrees of tracheobronchial stenosis. The stenosis was mainly located at upper lobe (50.0%) and gave priority to unilateral infiltration. The proportion of left and right-side stenosis were 53.9% and 44.2%, respectively. Forty-nine cases (23.8%) with tracheobronchia stenosis developed severe airway narrowing, the proportion of which was similar between left and right-side lung (49% vs. 51%). Severe stenosis in the left-side lung mainly involved in upper lobe (37.5%), main bronchus (37.5%) and the right-side mainly involved in upper lobe (44.0%), middle lobe or intermediate bronchus (40.0%). Among the TBTB patients, females, those with age ≥18 years, non-smokers, and those with symptom duration ≥4 weeks were more likely to be with tracheobronchial stenosis (P<0.05). The differences in gender between the patients with airway stenosis were as follows: the median age of female tracheobronchial stenosis patients was smaller than that of male patients (31 years vs. 43 years, P<0.05); stenosis were more likely involved in left side and main bronchus in female patients; ulceration necrosis of stenosis was more frequently seen in the female patients (P<0.05).ConclusionsTracheobronchial stenosis due to tracheobronchial tuberculosis is more frequently seen in young and middle-aged female patients. There are different stenosis location and lesion types between different genders.