Introduction. With chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been used to overcome the threshold load provided by intrinsic positive end expiratory pressure and decrease the inspiratory work of breathing. In this pilot study, we observed whether a continuous negative pressure (CNP) around the thorax and upper abdomen with a shell and wrap would provide a similar level of relief in dyspnoea. Methods. In eight patients with COPD in the intensive care unit receiving CPAP, CNP was alternated twice with CPAP (30 minutes each time). We measured heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, arterial oxygen tension (PaO2), arterial carbon dioxide tension (PaCO2), pH and dyspnoea score, and asked each patient which system was more comfortable. Results. Comparing CPAP with CNP, we found no significant difference in all measured parameters except PaCO2 which was lower with CNP. Seven out of eight patients found that CNP was more comfortable. Conclusions. The CNP was similar to CPAP except CNP was more comfortable.

Objective. To study the seasonality of tuberculosis (TB) in a tertiary care tuberculosis and respiratory hospital in Delhi. Methods. Data from a tertiary care respiratory hospital in south Delhi over a six years period from April 2002 to March 2008 were analysed. Results. Symptomatics: A total of 192,863 patients were registered newly in the hospital during this period. Maximum number of symptomatic patients reported to the out-patient department during April-June and the minimum during October-December. An increase of about 25% in symptomatics was observed (p<0.05) in the period from April to June in comparison to October to December. The amplitude of seasonal variation was estimated as 11% of the annual mean symptomatics. Tuberculosis cases: The maximum sputum-positive TB cases were diagnosed during the period from April to June and the number was least during October to December. There was an increase of about 34% in sputum-positive cases (p<0.001) during the period from April to June against October to December. The amplitude of seasonal variation was estimated as 14.4% of the annual mean smear-positives per quarter. The extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB) cases were the maximum during April-June. Chest symptomatics of all types of TB cases were the lowest in January. Conclusions. A seasonal pattern of TB was observed for pulmonary TB and EPTB cases. This information would be useful for administration and managers to take extra care to arrange and provide extra facilities during the peak seasons.

Purpose. To investigate whether oral intake of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a treatment option in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). Methods. Twenty patients with OSAS were enrolled in the study. After polysomnography (PSG), they were randomly assigned to receive a placebo (n=10) and NAC (n=10). A repeat PSG was done after the treatment period of 30 days. Fasting venous samples were collected for various biochemical analysis. Results. In the patients of NAC group, compared to their baseline values, slow wave sleep as sleep percent time (27.9±2.7 vs 42.3±4.2; p<0.01) and sleep efficiency (90.8±1.3 vs 94.4±1.5; p<0.05) improved considerably. The apnoea-hypopnoea index (61.2±8.5 vs 43.1±8.6; p<0.05), apnoea related arousals (22.2±7.6 vs 11.6±4.7; p<0.05), longest apnoeic episode duration (seconds) (54.9±7.1 vs 37.8±5.6; p<0.01), oxygen desaturation events per hour (51.8±7.7 vs 37±7.8; p<0.01) and epworth sleepiness score (16.6±0.8 vs 9.2±0.9; p<0.001) decreased significantly. The relative snore time (%) (10.2±2.9 vs 4.9±1.9; p<0.01), number of snore episodes (63.8±23.9 vs 28.2±9.9; p<0.05) and duration of longest snore episode (min) (2.5±0.7 vs 0.6±0.1; p<0.05) also decreased significantly. Such responses were not evident in the placebo group. N-acetylcysteine produced significant decrease in lipid peroxidation and increase in total reduced glutathione. Conclusions. Oral NAC administration appears to have a therapeutic potential in the treatment of OSAS. It is proposed that long-term treatment with NAC in patients with OSAS may reduce their dependency on continuous positive airway pressure therapy.

Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM) encompasses a continuum of hamartomatous cystic lung lesions characterised by the presence of abnormal bronchiolar structures of varying sizes or distribution. The CCAM is a disorder of infancy with majority of the cases being diagnosed within the first two years of life. We describe CCAM in a 13-yearold girl complaining of recurrent lower respiratory tract infections since infancy who presented with post-infectious pneumatocele with loculated pleural effusion, and suspected abscess formation and had undergone resection.

Fatal course of re-expansion pulmonary oedema (REPO) is infrequent and very rarely documented in mechanically ventilated patients. We report a case of fatal REPO following tube thoracostomy for a right-sided pneumothorax in an elderly patient of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with respiratory failure on mechanical ventilation.

Occurrence of concurrent multiple primary malignancies with different histopathological presentations of the same organ at the same time is often not diagnosed and rarely reported in the literature. We present a case of multiple primary lung cancers with hepatic metastasis where the patient had a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of the right lower lobe and a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the right upper lobe.

A 55-year-old woman presented with fever, breathlessness and shock. She was diagnosed to have diabetes mellitus (Type 2) after admission. Blood culture grew Burkholderia pseudomallei. The patient responded to intravenous ceftozidime for two weeks and a prolonged course of six months with cotrimoxazole and doxycycline.

A case of a 68-year-old patient with bronchial asthma who presented with orthopnoea and respiratory failure in supine position is presented.