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Biomedical subjects

J D Epstein

Publications and source records attributed to J D Epstein.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Characteristics of oral and paraoral malignant lymphoma: a population-based review of 361 cases.

BACKGROUND: Lymphoma is the second most common neoplasm of the head and neck; almost 50% of all lymphomas occur in this region. Waldeyer's ring is the most common site of lymphomas involving the oral region. The purpose of this study was to review the characteristics of a large series of malignant lymphoma of the oral region. METHODS: Three hundred sixty-one consecutive cases of malignant lymphoma of the oral region were identified in the Tumor Registry between 1969 and 1998. RESULTS: The 361 cases (200 males and 161 females) of malignant lymphoma of the oral region accounted for 3.5% of all oral malignancies. The mean age was 62.5 years and the most prevalent site of involvement was the tonsil (32.7%), followed by the parotid gland (16.1%). Sixty-five percent of the lesions were diagnosed as large-cell (38%) or small-cell (27%) lymphoma. One quarter of the patients died of the disease in a mean of 2.78 years after diagnosis. Of a total 26 patients who died from other causes, 12 died because of other cancers, including 7 (27%) with leukemia and 5 (19%) with oral carcinoma. The prognosis is based, at least partially, on the histologic grading (low, intermediate, or high) and the anatomic stage of the disease. Localized low-grade lymphomas have a more favorable prognosis compared with those that are disseminated and/or have high-grade cellular changes. CONCLUSION: Lymphoma is the second most common malignant oral disease. Thorough head and neck and oral examination is necessary to identify lesions that may represent lymphoma.

Adolescent↗

Lung function 5 yr after lung volume reduction surgery for emphysema.

Current datum more than 2 yr after lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) for emphysema is limited. This prospective study evaluates pre-LVRS baseline and 5-yr results in 26 symptomatic patients (mean age 67 +/- 6 yr) (mean +/- SD) who underwent bilateral, targeted upper lobe stapled LVRS using video-assisted thoracoscopy. Baseline forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) was 0.7 +/- 0.2 L (mean +/- SD), 29 +/- 10% predicted. Following LVRS, with none lost to follow-up, mortality due to respiratory failure at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 yr was 4%, 4%, 19%, 31%, 46%, and 58%, respectively. Increase above baseline for FEV(1) > 200 ml and/or FVC > 400 ml at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 yr post-LVRS was noted in 73%, 46%, 35%, 27%, and 8% of all patients; decrease in dyspnea grade >/= 1 in 88%, 69%, 46%, 27%, and 15%; and elimination of initial oxygen dependence in 18 patients in 78%, 50%, 33%, 22%, and 0%, respectively. Expiratory airflow improved due to the increase in both lung elastic recoil and small airway intraluminal caliber. Five patients decreased FEV(1) 141 +/- 60 ml/yr and FVC 102 +/- 189 ml/yr over 3.8 +/- 1.2 yr post-LVRS, similar to their pre-LVRS rate of decline. In the 11 patients who survived 5 yr, at 0.5-1.0 yr post-LVRS peak increase in FEV(1) was 438 +/- 366 ml, with a decline of 149 +/- 157 ml the following year and 78 +/- 59 ml/yr over 4.0-4.5 yr. Bilateral LVRS provided palliative clinical and physiological improvement in 9 of 26 patients at 3 yr, 7 at 4 yr, and 2 at 5 yr.

Aged↗

Contribution of emphysema and small airways in COPD.

BACKGROUND: The contribution and role of emphysema and small airways disease in causing expiratory airflow limitation in COPD is controversial. METHODS: We obtained high-resolution thin-section 2-mm CT scans of the lung for emphysema grading and lung function in 116 consecutively seen COPD outpatients with fixed expiratory airflow limitation. In this group, inflated whole lung(s) were subsequently obtained in 24 patients (23 autopsy, 1 surgery) for morphologic studies and results compared with lung CT. Airway histologic condition was studied in 17 of the 24 patients. RESULTS: There was fair to weak negative correlation between CT emphysema score and either FEV1/FVC percent (r = -0.51, p = 0.001) or FEV1 percent predicted (r = -0.31, p = 0.001). In only 24 of the 81 patients (30%) with FEV1 less than 50% predicted, the CT emphysema score was 60 or more, indicating severe emphysema. In the 24 patients studied, there was a good correlation (r = 0.86, p = 0.001) between CT and pathologic grade of emphysema. While respiratory bronchioles (RBs) and membranous bronchioles (MBs) demonstrated marked morphologic abnormalities, there was a weak correlation with emphysema grade (for RB, r = 0.36, p = 0.16; for MB, r = 0.41, p = 0.10) or with FEV1 percent predicted (for RB, r = -0.21, p = 0.42; for MB, r = -0.28, p = 0.28). There was no correlation between emphysema and FEV1 percent predicted (r = -0.13, p = 0.54). CONCLUSIONS: High-resolution CT lung scans are an in vivo surrogate to quantitate moderate to severe morphologic emphysema. Emphysema does not appear to be primarily responsible for severe expiratory airflow limitation in most patients with severe COPD. There was no correlation between severity of small airway histologic condition and emphysema or FEV1 percent predicted. The causes of the lesions responsible for small airways obstruction need to be identified.

Aged↗

Lung function 12 months following emphysema resection.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of airflow limitation before and 6 and 12 months after targeted emphysematous resection in 10 male patients aged 67 +/- 8 years (mean +/- SD) with very severe COPD undergoing bilateral thoracoscopic stapling techniques. DESIGN: Lung function, including static lung elastic recoil, was measured 2 weeks before and 6 and 12 months after surgery. RESULTS: Twelve months after surgery, there was a significant (p < 0.001) reduction in total lung capacity (TLC), 9.5 +/- 0.3 L (mean +/- SEM) to 8.5 +/- 0.3 L, functional residual capacity, and residual volume. Airway conductance and FEV1, 0.71 +/- 0.1 L (mean +/- SEM) to 0.95 +/- 0.1 L, improved significantly (p < 0.01). Lung elastic recoil increased markedly at TLC from 11.7 +/- 0.7 cm H2O (mean +/- SEM) to 15.0 +/- 1.0 cm H2O (p < 0.01) as did maximum expiratory airflow in every patient. However, when compared with data obtained in each patient at 6 months, lung volumes are significantly increased, and expiratory airflow and lung elastic recoil pressures are significantly reduced (p < or = 0.05). Analysis of maximum expiratory flow-static elastic recoil pressure curve indicates conductance of the S airway segment (Gs) increased from 0.20 +/- 0.03 L/s/cm H2O (mean +/- SEM) to 0.28 +/- 0.04 L/s/cm H2O (p < 0.02), and critical transmural pressure in the collapsible segment (Ptm') decreased from 3.2 +/- 0.2 cm H2O (mean +/- SEM) to 2.5 +/- 0.2 cm H2O (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The improvement in maximal expiratory airflow can be attributed primarily to increased lung elastic recoil and its secondary effect on enlarging airway diameter causing increased airway conductance, increased Gs, and decreased Ptm'. The improvement in lung function and elastic recoil peaks at 6 months.

Aged↗

Limited contribution of emphysema in advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Previous studies on autopsy specimens or surgically resected lobes or lungs have reached varying conclusions regarding the importance of small airways disease and emphysema in causing fixed expiratory airflow limitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We obtained high resolution CT scans of the lung and lung function in 56 consecutive patients with fixed expiratory airflow limitation. There was poor correlation between CT emphysema score and either FEV1/FVC% (r = -0.36) or FEV1 % predicted (r = -0.20). In only 10 of the 35 patients with FEV1 < 50% predicted, the CT emphysema score was > 40, indicating significant emphysema. A strong negative correlation between diffusing capacity % predicted and diffusing capacity per alveolar volume and CT emphysema score was found only in patients with FEV1 > or = 1 L (r = -0.75, p < 0.0001). Thus, emphysema does not appear to be primarily responsible for expiratory airflow limitation in COPD. A low diffusing capacity may be spuriously misleading in patients with FEV1 < 1 L and no or trivial emphysema.

Aged↗

Physiologic studies of tracheobronchial stents in airway obstruction.

When airway obstruction is due to extraluminal compression and/or dynamic collapse, metal and silicone rubber prosthetic stents may stabilize the affected airway. Through a rigid bronchoscope, we inserted three metal stents in two patients and 18 silicone stents in 15 adult patients with symptomatic tracheobronchial compression and dynamic airway collapse. The underlying cause was malignancy in three patients; benign tracheobronchial malacia in three patients, two of whom refused surgical resection; and tracheobronchial stenosis that developed at the anastomotic site following lung transplantation in 11 patients. Clinical status and lung function studies were analyzed before and after stent insertion. Following stent insertion, airway diameter at least doubled and near normal patency of the affected tracheobronchial tree was achieved in every patient using stents of axial length 4 to 5 cm. The stents were well tolerated clinically, and all patients noted immediate relief of dyspnea. Following stent insertion, the forced vital capacity (FVC) increased from 64 +/- 21% predicted (mean +/- 1 SD) to 73 +/- 19% predicted, p less than 0.1; the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) from 49 +/- 25% predicted to 72 +/- 26% predicted, p less than 0.02; the ratio of the FEV1/FVC from 59 +/- 16% to 78 +/- 15%, p less than 0.01; and the maximum flow at 50% expired FVC from 38 +/- 26% predicted to 72 +/- 31% predicted, p less than 0.01.

Adult↗

Computed tomography and bronchoscopy in chest radiographically occult main-stem neoplasm diagnosis and Nd-YAG laser treatment in 8 patients.

We studied 8 adult patients with variable symptoms of cough, dyspnea, stridor, wheezing, or hemoptysis. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy in all showed complete or nearly complete endobronchial obstruction of a main-stem bronchus by neoplasm with a mean bronchial diameter of 1.9 mm +/- 1.6 mm (mean +/- standard deviation). In 4 patients, a lobar bronchus was also completely obstructed. No mass was visible on chest radiographs of any patient; however, computed tomography in each showed main-stem endobronchial obstruction, lobar obstruction (4 instances in 3 patients), and in 6 patients hypoperfusion of the involved lung. Computed tomographic scan showed additional abnormalities that were unsuspected on viewing chest radiographs or at bronchoscopy, including mediastinal adenopathy in 3 patients and an extraluminal tumor component in 4. After therapy with Nd-YAG laser, main-stem airway diameter increased to a mean of 9.6 mm +/- 1.0 mm (P less than .05) and pulmonary functions improved. Results suggest the complementary role of computed tomography and fiberoptic bronchoscopy in the detection and laser-treatment planning of chest radiographically occult severe neoplastic obstruction of the main-stem bronchus.

Bronchial Neoplasms↗

Herpes zoster infection with trigeminal and facial nerve involvement.

In most cases, herpes zoster (shingles) infections are benign and self-limited, requiring no treatment. However, if patients are elderly or immuno-compromised, they are at increased risk of complications such as visceral dissemination, cranial and nerve palsies, ophthalmic zoster, and postherpetic neuralgia. We present a case of herpes zoster infection complicated by both motor and sensory involvement in an elderly man.

Aged↗

Physiologic characteristics of malignant unilateral main-stem bronchial obstruction. Diagnosis and Nd-YAG laser treatment.

To evaluate the effects of severe, unilateral main-stem malignant bronchial obstruction on airway dynamics, we obtained maximal expiratory flow-volume (MEFV) curves in 11 patients 59 +/- 18 yr of age (mean +/- 1 SD), three with and eight without underlying emphysema, before and after laser therapy (10 patients) or lung resection (one patient). Mean main-stem bronchial diameters before and after treatment were 1.1 +/- 1.3 and 9.0 +/- 0.8 mm, respectively (p less than 0.05). In the three patients with underlying emphysema, MEFV curves showed a diffuse intrathoracic obstructive pattern before and after treatment; in the other eight patients, MEFV curves demonstrated an apparently restrictive pattern, with associated airflow obstruction in four, reversible after laser treatment in three of these four. After treatment, all patients exhibited an increase in FVC with a roughly parallel shift of the MEFV curve and little change in the slope of the descending limb of the MEFV curve: FVC improved from 54 +/- 16 to 86 +/- 13% predicted in patients without emphysema and from 54 +/- 16 to 77 +/- 8% predicted in patients with emphysema, whereas the slope of the descending limb of the MEFV curve between 45 and 55% of FVC changed minimally from 2.0 +/- 0.6 to 1.8 +/- 0.5 s-1 in patients without emphysema and from 0.8 +/- 0.3 to 0.8 +/- 0.1 s-1 in patients with emphysema.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenocarcinoma↗

Diagnosis and Nd-YAG laser treatment of unsuspected malignant tracheal obstruction.

Thirteen adult patients underwent palliative Nd-YAG laser treatment for relief of severe dyspnea due to malignant endotracheal obstruction. Three of the 13 patients had underlying chronic airflow obstruction (CAO) due to diffuse obstructive pulmonary disease. Despite dyspnea, cough, wheezing, stridor and/or hemoptysis, the diagnosis was delayed because of a normal chest roentgenogram in eight patients and nondiagnostic pulmonary function studies (including maximal expiratory and inspiratory flow-volume loops) in all three patients with CAO and in four of ten patients without CAO. The location of the tumor was extrathoracic in two patients, including one with CAO; intrathoracic in seven patients, including two with CAO; and combined extra- and intrathoracic in four. Tracheal diameter increased from 3.5 +/- 1.0 mm before, and to 9.8 +/- 2.0 mm after single or multiple laser treatments. Increased patency of the trachea after laser surgery was associated with improvement in expiratory and/or inspiratory flow rates and with symptomatic relief in all patients which persisted for 14.1 +/- 8.7 months (range four to 48 months). These results indicate that severe symptomatic narrowing of the extra- and/or intrathoracic trachea to a diameter of 2 to 5 mm may not be detected by conventional chest radiography or even by sensitive physiologic tests, especially in patients with underlying CAO. The resultant delay in diagnosis defers possible relief of disabling symptoms with palliative therapy, including Nd-YAG laser photocoagulation.

Adult↗

Neodymium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser in lung cancer.

Neodymium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser treatments were performed in 70 patients aged 62 +/- 10 (1 SD) years for incomplete malignancy-induced obstruction of the trachea or main bronchi, or both, associated with uncontrolled cough, dyspnea, atelectasis/pneumonia, and hemoptysis. Forty-three patients had been treated with surgical techniques, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy, or all three, while 27 patients were untreated before laser therapy because of acute respiratory distress. Laser treatment produced palliative improvement in 81% of the treated group (35 of 43), with survival of 4.3 +/- 3.9 months. Unsuccessfully laser-treated patients survived 0.7 +/- 0.4 month (p less than .05). Eighty-five percent of the untreated patients (23 of 27) showed postlaser improvement, with survival of 8.5 +/- 6.9 months. Unsuccessfully laser-treated patients survived 1.4 +/- 0.6 months (p less than .05). Twenty-three of the 27 previously untreated patients underwent radiation therapy after laser treatment. Laser treatments also were administered to 23 patients aged 61 +/- 13 years with complete obstruction of the main bronchi. Of this group, 17 patients had been treated and 6 had not been treated before the laser therapy. Laser treatment was successful in 47% of the treated patients (8 of 17), but there was no difference (p greater than .05) in survival between successfully and unsuccessfully treated patients (3.0 +/- 2.5 vs. 2.9 +/- 4.6 months). Similarly, laser treatment was successful in 50% of the untreated patients (3 of 6), and there was also no difference (p greater than .05) in survival between successfully and unsuccessfully treated patients (3.4 +/- 3.5 vs. 3.5 +/- 2.8 months).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Airway Obstruction↗

Nd-YAG laser surgery for severe tracheal stenosis physiologically and clinically masked by severe diffuse obstructive pulmonary disease.

Nd-YAG laser surgery was performed on six patients with tracheal stenosis complicating severe diffuse intrathoracic airways obstruction due to emphysema, chronic obstructive bronchitis and/or asthma. Tracheal stenosis was extrathoracic in four patients and both extrathoracic and intrathoracic in two patients. Results suggest that patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma have maximal expiratory and inspiratory flow volume patterns that may completely mask extrathoracic and intrathoracic tracheal stenosis. Following relief of tracheal obstruction with laser therapy, substantial improvement can occur both clinically and physiologically, as reflected by symptomatic relief and large increases in Vmax 50I and FVC.

Adult↗

Perioral dermatitis: an uncommon condition?

To document the persistence of perioral dermatitis at dermatology clinics at University Hospital, Saskatoon, we reviewed the charts of all patients with the condition seen between January 1983 and March 1985. Patients with rosacea referred to the clinics during the same period were used as a comparison group. A total of 80 patients with perioral dermatitis and 117 patients with rosacea were seen during the study period; most were female. Those with perioral dermatitis were significantly younger and had a significantly shorter mean duration of the eruption before presentation than those with rosacea (p less than 0.001). The distribution of the lesions was different in the two groups. Sixty-eight (85%) of the patients with perioral dermatitis and 45 (38%) of those with rosacea had used topical corticosteroids, a postulated risk factor for perioral dermatitis; the use of potent topical corticosteroids was frequent in both groups. Despite continuing medical education on the dangers of chronic use of these agents for eruptions on the face, physicians continue to prescribe them.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗

Lichenoid stomatitis associated with lithium carbonate.

Lichenoid stomatitis has been reported in the use of a number of drugs. This is a case report of lichenoid stomatitis associated with lithium carbonate. The association between lichenoid stomatitis and lithium carbonate was confirmed by rechallenge in this patient. A number of cutaneous reactions have been reported as adverse effects of lithium therapy. Lichenoid reactions are characterized by an infiltrate of T cells. Lithium has been reported to alter T cell function in vitro.

Adult↗