Summary

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>E-cigarette has a long history. From 1965 until now, we accepted the promotional campaigns of the tobacco industry and now a new epidemic disease EVALI is generated with an explosion of deaths and pulmonary lesions. We need now to learn more about the algorithm of diagnosis and treatment. This article is updating for 2019 the guideline of diagnosis and treatment of this new disease.</p></abstract>

EVALI – why was it mandatory or necessary to study a new disease?

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The prevalence of asthma is still high in many countries. However, the asthma mortality rate has been significantly decreased after the epidemic of asthma death in the 1970s. The epidemic was occurred in New Zealand and was associated with the use of high-dose inhaled fenoterol at that time. The increased use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in asthma management is proposed as the key factor in the declining trend of asthma mortality rate. The risk factors of asthma-related deaths included history of near-fatal asthma requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation, hospitalisation or emergency care visit for asthma in the past year, currently using or having recently stopped using oral corticosteroids, not currently using ICS, overuse of short-acting b2-agonists, history of psychiatric disease or psychosocial problems, poor adherence with asthma medications and/or poor adherence with (or lack of) a written asthma action plan, food allergy in a patient with asthma, and air pollution.</p></abstract>

Asthma death

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Quit-smoking support is provided to Romanian smokers since 2007 through a network of stop-smoking centres. The study aimed to collect up-to-date information about the availability of psychological counselling and medication for smoking cessation at the existing specialised centres.</p></sec><sec><h3>Materials and methods</h3><p>All the stop-smoking centres listed on the program’s official website were contacted by phone by a trained evaluator introducing himself as a smoker in need of professional support.</p></sec><sec><h3>Results</h3><p>Of the 41 counties listed on the website, only 70.7% provided a contact phone number for the stop-smoking centre. While 56.1% of the centres answered the first or second call, the actual availability of quit support was confirmed by only 41.5% of the centres. The time till the first appointment varied between 1 day and 1 month. Psychological support and free medication for treating nicotine addiction were available in 36.6% and 14.6% of the centres, respectively.</p></sec><sec><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>The availability of stop-smoking support at the time of the assessment was significantly limited.</p></sec></abstract>

The availability of specialised quit support provided by the national stop-smoking program in Romania

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec><h3>Background</h3><p>Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) continues to cause a heavy health and economic burden in the Europe and around the world. Arterial hypertension (AH) is considered as one of the principal COPD-associated comorbidi-ties. However, no data for association between gene polymorphism and AH in patients with COPD in Ukraine have ever been internationally published. We assessed the genotype and allele frequencies of angiotensinogen (AGT) M235T polymorphisms in patients with COPD and comorbid AH.</p></sec><sec><h3>Methods</h3><p>The study group consisted of 96 patients: Group 1 (25 individuals with COPD), Group 2 (23 individuals with AH) and Group 3 (28 individuals with COPD and AH). The control group consisted of 20 healthy subjects. M/T genotypes of AGT were determined by polymerase chain reaction amplification.</p></sec><sec><h3>Results</h3><p>The results of the study have not demonstrated any significant impact of alleles of AGT genes on the occurrence of diseases such as COPD, AH and combinations thereof. However, analysis of odds ratio has demonstrated the presence of a trend towards a protective role of the M allele of the AGT gene concerning occurrence of COPD, AH and their combinations. At the same time, the presence of the T allele of the AGT gene may increase the risk for occurrence of the above-mentioned diseases.</p></sec><sec><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The study that we have conducted suggests that the presence of T allele of the AGT gene at position 235 of the peptide chain both in homozygous and heterozygous states may increase the risk for AH in patients with COPD.</p></sec></abstract>

Department of Functional and Laboratory Diagnostics

I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University

Association between arterial hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: role of AGT gene polymorphism

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare disease, certainly underdiagnosed, characterised by the intra-alveolar accumulation of a milky fluid rich in phospholipids and lipoproteins derived from alveolar surfactant, positive in periodic acid-Schiff staining. The alveolar macrophage plays a major role in the pathogenesis of PAP, and its role in the turn-over of alveolar surfactant is being altered by various mechanisms.</p><p>More than 90% of cases of PAP are primary autoimmune, characterised by the presence in serum of circulating autoantibodies against granulocyte-macrophages colony-stimulating factor. Other causes of PAP are genetic, secondary to other diseases or to exposure to different agents.</p><p>The evolution of the disease is unpredictable, from spontaneous remission to progression despite treatment towards pulmonary fibrosis and chronic severe respiratory failure. The gold standard of therapy is the whole lung lavage, other treatments are being still in evaluation.</p><p>The article presents a few cases that illustrate different patterns in the evolution of PAP.</p></abstract>

“Marius Nasta”, Institute of Pneumophtysiology

Alveolar proteinosis – disease with unpredictable evolution (series of clinical cases)

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>We present the case of a male patient, 34 years old, non-smoker, presenting repeatedly in the past 2 years in emergency and cardiology departments for episodes of palpitation accompanied by faitness. One of the electrocardiograms recorded in emergency department captures bigeminated ventricular premature heartbeats. A cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination in May 2019 showed increased thickness of left ventricle during systole and contrast enhancement in the middle of cardiac wall at the base of the heart, considered initially as hypertrophic non-obstructive cardiomyopathy. The reinterpretation of MRI suggested that the changes were typical for cardiac sarcoidosis. Investigations performed later showed increased angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE); thoracic computed tomography (CT) scan showed nodules and micronodules bilateral in upper lobes with moderate mediastinal lymph node enlargement and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) showed lymphocytic alveolitis with normal CD4/CD8 ratio, normal lung function with normal diffusing capacity. Even without biopsy, but based on CT scan, BAL and ACE, the patient was diagnosed as sarcoidosis with lung and cardiac involvement and was started on oral corticosteroids (methylprednisolone 32 mg/day). The diagnosis of cardiac involvement as initial presentation of sarcoidosis is difficult, due to limited knowledge about the disease among cardiologists and radiologists. Though, a recurrent arrhythmia, potentially severe, in a young patient in the absence of an alternative cause, should raise the suspicion for sarcoidosis with cardiac involvement, with a potential severe outcome in the absence of treatment.</p></abstract>

Marius Nasta Institute of Pneumophtysiology, Pulmonology I Dept.

Institute of Pneumophthysiology, “Marius Nasta”

Clinical Emergency Hospital, Cardiology Dept.

Cardiac sarcoidosis, a rare disease?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease day – a traditional strategy of the Romanian Society of Pneumology

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 71 (2022): Issue 4 (December 2022)

Volume 71 (2022): Issue 3 (October 2022)

Volume 71 (2022): Issue 2 (September 2022)

Volume 71 (2022): Issue 1 (June 2022)

Volume 70 (2021): Issue 4 (December 2021)

Volume 70 (2021): Issue 3 (October 2021)

Volume 70 (2021): Issue 2 (September 2021)

Volume 70 (2021): Issue 1 (June 2021)

Volume 69 (2020): Issue 4 (December 2020)

Volume 69 (2020): Issue 3 (December 2020)

Volume 69 (2020): Issue 2 (December 2020)

Volume 69 (2020): Issue 1 (June 2020)

Volume 68 (2019): Issue 4 (December 2019)

Volume 68 (2019): Issue 3 (December 2019)

Volume 68 (2019): Issue 2 (October 2019)

Volume 68 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

Pneumologia

 Pneumologia is the journal of the Romanian Society of Pneumology, being continuously edited since 1951. Pneumologia is an open-access journal, edited in English, 4 issues per year and is included in international databases. It publishes clinical and experimental research articles in the field of respiratory medicine, paediatrics, thoracic surgery, allergology, respiratory intensive care and oncology.  Pneumologia aims to publish scientifically valid papers, related to the respiratory field, offering a good visibility of the published papers. It is also an educational platform for physicians, educators interested in this domain, and aims to promote research and good clinical practice.  Pneumologia publishes original articles in the field of respiratory medicine, paediatrics, thoracic surgery, allergology, respiratory intensive care, and oncology. The following types of submissions are accepted:   Original research papers  Case reports  Reviews  Letters to the editor  Educational materials: practice guidelines, new techniques description and use  News, chronicles   All submitted papers are confidentially peer-reviewed in a timely manner, by at least two independent reviewers selected according to the topic of the article. The peer-review process aims to check the originality, scientific validity, and coherence of the submission.  Pneumologia offers fast publication; the eligible submissions are typically published within 3 months. There is no publication fee, and the online version is available open access on the Journal’s web site. The printed journal is distributed to the members of the Romanian Society of Pneumology and several public libraries.  Romanian and international authors are welcome to submit papers to Pneumologia, which is one of the few journals specifically dedicated to respiratory medicine in the region.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.  Back issues www.pneumologia.eu/en/all-articles arhiva.pneumologia.eu/ 