Martine Reynaud-Gaubert

Survival in Patients With Idiopathic, Familial, and Anorexigen-Associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in the Modern Management Era

Background— Novel therapies have recently become available for pulmonary arterial hypertension. We conducted a study to characterize mortality in a multicenter prospective cohort of patients diagnosed with idiopathic, familial, or anorexigen-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension in the modern management era. Methods and Results— Between October 2002 and October 2003, 354 consecutive adult patients with idiopathic, familial, or anorexigen-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (56 incident and 298 prevalent cases) were prospectively enrolled. Patients were followed up for 3 years, and survival rates were analyzed. For incident cases, estimated survival (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) at 1, 2, and 3 years was 85.7% (95% CI, 76.5 to 94.9), 69.6% (95% CI, 57.6 to 81.6), and 54.9% (95% CI, 41.8 to 68.0), respectively. In a combined analysis population (incident patients and prevalent patients diagnosed within 3 years before study entry; n=190), 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival estimates were 82.9% (95% CI, 72.4 to 95.0), 67.1% (95% CI, 57.1 to 78.8), and 58.2% (95% CI, 49.0 to 69.3), respectively. Individual survival analysis identified the following as significantly and positively associated with survival: female gender, New York Heart Association functional class I/II, greater 6-minute walk distance, lower right atrial pressure, and higher cardiac output. Multivariable analysis showed that being female, having a greater 6-minute walk distance, and exhibiting higher cardiac output were jointly significantly associated with improved survival. Conclusions— In the modern management era, idiopathic, familial, and anorexigen-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension remains a progressive, fatal disease. Mortality is most closely associated with male gender, right ventricular hemodynamic function, and exercise limitation.

European Respiratory Society guidelines for the diagnosis and management of lymphangioleiomyomatosis

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare lung disease, which occurs sporadically or in association with the genetic disease tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) 1, 2. Sporadic LAM affects ∼1 in 400,000 adult females; in TSC, LAM occurs in 30–40% of adult females 3, 4 and exceptionally in males and children 5, 6. Patients with LAM usually develop progressive dyspnoea and recurrent pneumothorax, chylous collections and occasional haemoptysis 1. Extra pulmonary lymphadenopathy and cystic masses of the axial lymphatics termed lymphangioleiomyomas can result in abdominal and pelvic lymphatic obstruction 7. LAM is often associated with angiomyolipoma in the kidneys 8, and an increased frequency of meningioma 9. LAM varies in clinical features and rate of progression: this together with an absence of clear prognostic factors results in patients being given conflicting information about prognosis. Diagnosis is made by tissue biopsy (generally from the lung but occasionally from lymph nodes or lymphangioleiomyomas) and/or a combination of history and high-resolution computed tomography scanning (HRCT). Pathological diagnosis relies on characteristic LAM cell morphology and positive immunoreactivity to smooth muscle actin and HMB-45 antibodies. Increasingly HRCT is used to diagnose LAM without resorting to lung biopsy; however a number of conditions with multiple pulmonary cysts can mimic LAM. As LAM is rare, there have been no controlled trials of its management. Supportive treatment includes management of airflow obstruction and hypoxaemia with bronchodilators and oxygen respectively, specific treatment for surgical or pleural complications including pneumo- and chylothorax, and interventional treatment of renal lesions 10, 11. As LAM is a disease of females and is thought to be accelerated by oestrogen, oophorectomy, tamoxifen, progesterone and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues have been used without evidence that they are effective. The recent finding of abnormalities in the TSC1/2 genes resulting …

Amoebal Coculture of “Mycobacterium massiliense” sp. nov. from the Sputum of a Patient with Hemoptoic Pneumonia

ABSTRACT A nonphotochromogenic, rapidly growing Mycobacterium strain was isolated in pure culture from the sputum and the bronchoalveolar fluid of a patient with hemoptoic pneumonia by using axenic media and an amoebal coculture system. Both isolates grew in less than 7 days at 24 to 37°C with an optimal growth temperature of 30°C. The isolates exhibited biochemical and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles overlapping those of Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium chelonae, and Mycobacterium immunogenum, indicating that they belonged to M. chelonae-M. abscessus group. They differed from M. abscessus in β-galactosidase, β-N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, and β-glucuronidase activities and by the lack of nitrate reductase and indole production activities, as well as in their in vitro susceptibilities to minocycline and doxycycline. These isolates and M. abscessus differed from M. chelonae and M. immunogenum by exhibiting gelatinase and tryptophane desaminase activities. Their 16S rRNA genes had complete sequence identity with that of M. abscessus and >99.6% similarity with those of M. chelonae and M. immunogenum. Further molecular investigations showed that partial hsp65 and sodA gene sequences differed from that of M. abscessus by five and three positions over 441 bp, respectively. Partial rpoB and recA gene sequence analyses showed 96 and 98% similarities with M. abscessus, respectively. Similarly, 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer sequence of the isolates differed from that of M. abscessus by a A→G substitution at position 60 and a C insertion at position 102. Phenotypic and genotypic features of these two isolates indicated that they were representative of a new mycobacterial species within the M. chelonae-M. abscessus group. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that these isolates were perhaps recently derived from M. abscessus. We propose the name of “Mycobacterium massiliense” for this new species. The type strain has been deposited in the Collection Institut Pasteur as CIP 108297T and in Culture Collection of the University of Göteborg, Göteborg, Sweden, as CCUG 48898T.

Colistin: an update on the antibiotic of the 21st century

The emergence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria that cause nosocomial infections is a growing problem worldwide. Colistin was first introduced in 1952 and was used until the early 1980s for the treatment of infections caused by Gram-negative bacilli. In vitro, colistin has demonstrated excellent activity against various Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria, including multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Recent clinical findings regarding colistin activity, pharmacokinetic properties, clinical uses, emerging resistance, toxicities and combination therapy have been reviewed. Recent approaches to the use of colistin in combination with other antibiotics hold promise for increased antibacterial efficacy. It is probable that colistin will be the ‘last-line’ therapeutic drug against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens in the 21st century.

Molecular Detection of Multiple Emerging Pathogens in Sputa from Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Background There is strong evidence that culture-based methods detect only a small proportion of bacteria present in the respiratory tracts of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Methodology/Principal Findings Standard microbiological culture and phenotypic identification of bacteria in sputa from CF patients have been compared to molecular methods by the use of 16S rDNA amplification, cloning and sequencing. Twenty-five sputa from CF patients were cultured that yield 33 isolates (13 species) known to be pathogens during CF. For molecular cloning, 760 clones were sequenced (7.2±3.9 species/sputum), and 53 different bacterial species were identified including 16 species of anaerobes (30%). Discrepancies between culture and molecular data were numerous and demonstrate that accurate identification remains challenging. New or emerging bacteria not or rarely reported in CF patients were detected including Dolosigranulum pigrum, Dialister pneumosintes, and Inquilinus limosus. Conclusions/Significance Our results demonstrate the complex microbial community in sputa from CF patients, especially anaerobic bacteria that are probably an underestimated cause of CF lung pathology. Metagenomic analysis is urgently needed to better understand those complex communities in CF pulmonary infections.

Interstitial lung disease in amyopathic dermatomyositis, dermatomyositis and polymyositis

This study investigated interstitial pneumonia associated with amyopathic dermatomyositis, dermatomyositis and polymyositis, paying particular attention to muscular and/or cutaneous manifestations and their chronology relative to lung involvement. Patients included four males and 13 females, aged 51.7±10.8 yrs, who had surgical lung biopsy. Diagnoses included dermatomyositis (10 patients), polymyositis (four patients) and amyopathic dermatomyositis (three patients). Solitary respiratory manifestations preceded the onset of any skin or muscle disease in four cases (24%). Reticular and ground glass opacities were the most frequent computed tomography (CT) findings. Pathological review showed nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (eleven, 65%; cellular, two; cellular and fibrotic, five; fibrotic, four), usual interstitial pneumonia (two), organising pneumonia (two), lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia (one), and unclassifiable interstitial pneumonia (one). Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia was the most common histological pattern of interstitial pneumonia in patients with amyopathic dermatomyositis (three of three) and in patients with respiratory symptoms as the initial clinical manifestation of the connective tissue disease (three of four). Survival at 5 yrs was 50%. This study shows the clinician should remain alert to potential muscular or cutaneous manifestations whenever a pathological diagnosis of nonspecific interstitial pneumonia is made.

idiopathic Chronic Eosinophilic Pneumonia: A Clinical and Follow-up Study of 62 Cases

Idiopathic chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP) is a rare disorder of unknown cause with nonspecific respiratory and systemic symptoms but rather characteristic peripheral alveolar infiltrates on imaging, developing mainly in women and in atopic subjects. The disorder is highly responsive to oral corticosteroid therapy, but relapses are frequent on reducing or stopping treatment. The long-term course of the disease and data regarding outcome, particularly the need for prolonged oral corticosteroid therapy and the development of severe asthma, are somewhat contradictory. A multicentric retrospective study was conducted in an attempt to describe better the initial features and, above all, the later course of CEP in a large homogeneous series of 62 stringently selected patients of whom 46 were followed for more than 1 year. The prevalence of smokers was low (6.5%) and about half of our patients (51.6%) had a previous, and often prolonged, history of asthma. The clinical and roentgenographic features were in keeping with previous studies, but we found that computed tomography could disclose ground glass opacities not detected by X-ray, and that migratory infiltrates before treatment were more frequent (25.5%) than reported previously. The bronchoalveolar lavage cellular count always showed a striking eosinophilic pattern, thus allowing distinction between CEP and cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, both syndromes sharing many common clinical and imaging features. About two-thirds of the patients (68%) showed a ventilatory defect in pulmonary function tests, with about one-half of these presenting with an obstructive pattern, sometimes without previous asthma. Along with the submucosal eosinophilic infiltration noted in 2 patients without ventilatory defect, this is strong evidence to confirm that CEP is not only an alveolointerstitial but also an airway disease. The dramatic response to oral corticosteroid therapy was observed in all treated patients. Although only 1 patient initially treated for less than 6 months did not relapse, longer oral corticosteroid therapy in no way provided protection from further relapses. We thus propose to try to wean oral corticosteroid therapy after 6 months in patients without severe asthma, because recurrences remain responsive to oral steroids. However, prolonged oral corticosteroid therapy was necessary in the majority of patients, with 68.9% of those followed for more than 1 year still on oral corticosteroid therapy at the last follow-up, either because of relapse or because of severe asthma.

Upregulation of chemokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid as a predictive marker of post-transplant airway obliteration

BACKGROUND The early stage of post-transplant obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) is characterized by an influx of inflammatory cells to the lung, among which neutrophils may play a role in key events. The potential for chemokines to induce leukocyte accumulation in the alveolar space was investigated. We assessed whether changes in the chemotactic expression profile could be used as sensitive markers of the onset of OB. METHODS Serial bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids from 13 stable healthy recipients and 8 patients who developed bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) were analyzed longitudinally for concentrations of interleukin-8 (IL-8), chemokines regulated-upon-activation and normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). These were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS Significantly elevated percentages of BAL neutrophils and IL-8 levels were found at the pre-clinical stage of BOS, on average 151 +/- 164 days and 307 +/- 266 days, respectively, before diagnosis of BOS. There was also early upregulation of RANTES and MCP-1 in the BOS group (mean 253 +/- 323 and 152 +/- 80 days, respectively, before diagnosis of BOS). The level of MCP-1 was consistently higher than that of RANTES until airway obliteration. BAL sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 levels were not statistically different between the groups. CONCLUSIONS These data support the belief that RANTES, IL-8 and MCP-1 play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of OB. The results show that relevant increased levels of such chemokines may predict BOS, and suggest that there is potential for some of these markers to be used as early and sensitive markers of the onset of BOS. Longitudinal monitoring of these chemokine signals may contribute to better management of patients at risk for developing OB, at a stage when remodeling can either be reversed or altered.

Lung transplantation for lymphangioleiomyomatosis: the European experience.

BACKGROUND Lung transplantation has been accepted widely as therapy for end-stage pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM); however, single-center and national experience is limited due to the rarity of LAM. METHODS We report the recent European experience of lung transplantation for LAM. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 30 European lung transplant centers to evaluate patients who underwent primary lung transplantation for LAM (1997 to 2007). RESULTS Seventy percent of centers responded to the questionnaire. A total of 61 lung transplants were undertaken in women only, with mean age at transplant 41.3 years (SD 5.1). Centers performed a median of 2 (0 to 9) transplant operations. Severe pleural adhesions were the most common intra-operative complication. Early deaths (N = 6) were due to primary graft or multiple-organ failure or sepsis. Twelve recipients were diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome at a median of 20 months (range 10 to 86 months) post-transplant. LAM-related complications included renal angiomyolipoma and pneumothorax in the native lung. Recurrence of LAM occurred in 4 recipients. As of December 2007, actuarial Kaplan-Meier survival was 79% at 1 year and 73% at 3 years post-transplant. CONCLUSIONS Post-transplant outcome for pulmonary LAM in the recent era appears to have improved compared with the previous era. LAM-related complications remain common, but recurrence of LAM in the allograft is rare.

Pulmonary hypertension associated with benfluorex exposure

Benfluorex was marketed in France until 2009, despite its similar pharmacological properties with fenfluramine and its derivatives known to be a cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The aim of this study is to report clinical and haemodynamic characteristics for patients suffering from pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with benfluorex exposure that had been identified by the French PAH Network. 85 cases of PH associated with benfluorex exposure were identified by the French PAH Network from June 1999 to March 2011. Of these, 70 patients had confirmed pre-capillary PH. The median duration of exposure was 30 months, with a median of 108 months between start of exposure and diagnosis of the pulmonary vascular disease. 33% of all patients also had prior exposure to fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine, and an additional risk factor for PH was identified in 20 (30%) out of 70 patients with pre-capillary PH. A quarter of patients in this current series showed coexisting PH and mild-to-moderate cardiac valve involvement. The results of our study, together with the accumulated data regarding the known toxic effects of fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine, strongly suggest that benfluorex exposure is a potent trigger for PAH.