[Acute pulmonary toxicity caused by carbamazepine: apropos of a case]. / Toxicidad pulmonar aguda por carbamazepina: a propósito de un caso.

Pulmonary toxicity caused by carbamazepine seems to be a non dose-dependent process involving pulmonary infiltrates, eosinofilia and skin rash. We report a case with acute presentation that resolved successfully after the drug was withdrawn and the patient was treated with corticosteroids. Bronchoalveolar lavage showed an inversion of the lymphocyte ratio CD4/CD8 supporting the suggestion by other authors that drug-induced pulmonary toxicity.

Cytologic and bacteriologic analysis of fluid and pleural biopsy specimens with Cope's needle. Study of 414 patients.

This article describes the results of a dual diagnostic procedure, thoracentesis and pleural biopsy with a Cope's needle, in 414 patients with pleural effusion of unknown origin. A diagnosis of neoplasia or pleural tuberculosis was obtained in 241 subjects (149 with neoplasias and 92 with pleural tuberculosis). In an additional 55 patients, a diagnosis of tuberculosis or neoplasia was obtained using other procedures (15 with tuberculosis and 40 with neoplasias). In 105 subjects, the effusion was neither tuberculosis nor neoplasia. Thirteen patients were excluded from this study due to the impossibility of follow-up. The diagnostic process was repeated in 64 patients. Complications occurred in 46 patients (11%), of which 42 were pneumothorax. The dual diagnostic sensitivity in our series of thoracenteses and pleural biopsies made with a Cope's needle was 86% in tuberculosis and 79% in neoplasia with 100% specificity. The probability of a case being neither tuberculosis nor pleural neoplasia (negative predictive value) when the liquid and the pleural biopsy specimen are nonspecific (each procedure having been applied only once on each patient) is 56%, although a negative result does not exclude these diagnoses. In our opinion, the repetition of the dual procedure is indicated considering the scant morbidity and zero mortality.

[Characteristics of the incidence of bronchogenic carcinoma in extreme age groups]. / Características del carcinoma broncogénico en las edades extremas de su incidencia.

The protocols of 852 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma (BC) were reviewed in order to establish its characteristics in the most extreme age groups in which it appears: group I, patients aged 40 years or younger (18 cases), and group II, patients aged 80 or older (19 cases). No differences were found in the relation men/women, time elapsed from the beginning of symptoms to diagnosis, staging and survival. The differentiating characters included the greater incidence of thoracic pain, microcytic carcinoma, surgery possibilities and therapeutic attitude in group I, and the predominance of squamous cell carcinoma in group II. The continuous and intense exposure to tobacco smoke is common to both groups.