[Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis as a complication of silicosis]. / Aspergilosis pulmonar necrotizante crónica como complicación de silicosis.

Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis is un uncommon disease which is found in people with underlying lung disease or in mildly immunocompromised patients. It is an exceptional complication in silicosis and its diagnosis is difficult because it simulates other diseases like tuberculosis and cancer which are more common in such patients. We report on three cases with a long history of silica dust exposure with pulmonary aspergillosis complicating progressive massive fibrosis (PMF). We review their clinical, radiological and treatment features.

Trends in hospital admissions due to asthma in north-west Spain from 1995 to 2007.

PURPOSE: Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood. Hospital admissions in the child population appear to be reducing in different populations. METHODS: We have retrospectively analysed admissions into hospitals in our region due to asthma in a 0 to 14 years population, between the years 1995 and 2007. The age, sex, date of admission, and length of hospital stay of each patient was recorded and analysed. RESULTS: A total of 9106 admissions (64% males) have been included. A gradual trend towards a reduction in admissions is observed during the period analysed. There were more admissions in 1996, with 2.91 per thousand inhabitants, gradually reducing to 1.33 per thousand in 2007. There were more admissions in May and between September and December, being less frequent in July and August. The mean stay in this period was 4.18 days, which was stable during the whole period of the study. Older children tended to have a longer hospital stay. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that admissions due to childhood asthma tend to be decreasing, particularly due to younger males, with no change in the length of hospital stay. Asthma exacerbations seemed to be associated with infections and exposure to allergens.

Lung cancer in a health area of Spain: incidence, characteristics and survival.

To examine the incidence, characteristics, therapeutic approach and survival of diagnosed lung cancer (LC) in the Santiago de Compostela Health Area. A retrospective study was carried out on LC for a period of 3 years. Of the 481 cases collected, 92.7% were male. The median age was 66.93 years. The crude incidence for men and women was 80.71 and 5.84 per 100,000 inhabitants respectively. Among the non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC), 68.1% were diagnosed in stage IIIB or IV. The cancer had already spread in 62.2% of the small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Chemotherapy was used in 51.6% of patients. The survival probability from the first to the fifth year was 47.7%, 24.3%, 12.9%, 10% and 8.9% respectively. The median survival at 5 years was 12.12 months for NSCLC, rising to 29.8 months in stage I, and 8.85 months in SCLC. In our Health Area LC occurs more often in men, in whom the prevalence of smoking is very high. The most common histology type was squamous cell carcinoma. In the majority of cases, the diagnosis is made in the advanced stages, which accounts for the low percentage of surgical treatments and the short survival.