Emphysema

Emphysema is a chronic lung disease. It is often caused by exposure to toxic chemicals or long-term exposure to tobacco smoke.

Signs and symptoms

loss of elasticity of the lung tissue

destruction of structures supporting the alveoli

destruction of capillaries feeding the alveoli

The result is that the small airways collapse during expiration, leading to an obstructive form of lung disease

Features are: shortness of breath on exertion

 hyperventilation and an expanded chest.

As emphysema progresses, clubbing of the fingers may be observed, a feature of longstanding hypoxia.

Emphysema patients are sometimes referred to as "pink puffers". This is because emphysema sufferers may hyperventilate to maintain adequate blood oxygen levels. Hyperventilation explains why emphysema patients do not appear cyanotic as chronic bronchitis (another COPD disorder) sufferers often do; hence they are "pink" puffers (adequate oxygen levels in the blood) and not "blue" bloaters (cyanosis; inadequate oxygen in the blood).

Diagnosis

spirometry (lung function testing), including diffusion testing

X-rays,  high resolution spiral chest CT-scan,

Bronchoscopy, blood tests, pulse oximetry and arterial blood gas sampling.

Pathophysiology :

Permanent destructive enlargement of the airspaces distal to the terminal bronchioles without obvious fibrosis

Oxygen is inhaled in normal breathing

When toxins such as smoke are breathed into the lungs, the particles are trapped by the hairs and cannot be exhaled, leading to a localised inflammatory response. Chemicals released during the inflammatory response (trypsin, elastase, etc.) are released and begin breaking down the walls of alveoli. This leads to fewer but larger alveoli, with a decreased surface area and a decreased ability to take up oxygen and loose carbon dioxide. The activity of another molecule called alpha 1-antitrypsin normally neutralizes the destructive action of one of these damaging molecules.

After a prolonged period, hyperventilation becomes inadequate to maintain high enough oxygen levels in the blood, and the body compensates by vasoconstricting appropriate vessels. This leads to pulmonary hypertension. This leads to enlargement and increased strain on the right side of the heart, which in turn leads to peripheral edema (swelling of the peripherals) as blood gets backed up in the systemic circulation, causing fluid to leave the circulatory system and accumulate in the tissues.

Emphysema occurs in a higher proportion in patient with decreased alpha 1-antitrypsin (A1AT) levels

Prognosis and treatment

Emphysema is an irreversible degenerative condition

Supportive  treatmentis by supporting the breathing with anticholinergics, bronchodilators and (inhaled or oral) steroid medication, and supplemental oxygen as required

Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) can improve the quality of life for only  selected patients.

Rickettsial Diseases

Epidemic Typhus

An acute, severe, febrile, louse-borne disease caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, characterized by prolonged high fever, intractable headache, and a maculopapular rash.

Symptoms, Signs, and Prognosis

After an incubation period of 7 to 14 days, fever, headache, and prostration suddenly occur. Temperature reaches 40° C (104° F) in several days and remains high, with slight morning remission, for about 2 wk. Headache is generalized and intense. Small pink macules appear on the 4th to 6th day, usually in the axillae and on the upper trunk; they rapidly cover the body, generally excluding the face, soles, and palms. Later the rash becomes dark and maculopapular; in severe cases, the rash becomes petechial and hemorrhagic. Splenomegaly occurs in some cases. Hypotension occurs in most seriously ill patients; vascular collapse, renal insufficiency, encephalitic signs, ecchymosis with gangrene, and pneumonia are poor prognostic signs. Fatalities are rare in children < 10 yr, but mortality increases with age and may reach 60% in untreated persons > 50 yr.

Neuroblastoma and Related Neoplasms
Neuroblastoma is the second most common solid malignancy of childhood after brain tumors, accounting for up to10% of all pediatric neoplasms. They are most common during the first 5 years of life. Neuroblastomas may occur anywhere along the sympathetic nervous system and occasionally within the brain. Most neuroblastomas are sporadic. Spontaneous regression and spontaneous- or therapy-induced maturation are their unique features.  

Gross features
- The adrenal medulla is the commonest site of neuroblastomas. The remainder occur along the sympathetic chain, mostly in the paravertebral region of the abdomen and posterior mediastinum. 
- They range in size from minute nodules to large masses weighing more than 1 kg. 
- Some tumors are delineated by a fibrous pseudo-capsule, but others invade surrounding structures, including the kidneys, renal vein, vena cava, and the aorta. 
- Sectioning shows soft, gray-tan, brain-like tissue. Areas of necrosis, cystic softening, and hemorrhage may be present in large tumors. 

Microscopic features
- Neuroblastomas are composed of small, primitive-appearing neuroblasts with dark nuclei & scant cytoplasm, g rowing in solid sheets.  
- The background consists of light pinkish fibrillary material corresponding to neuritic processes of the primitive cells. 
- Typically, rosettes can be found in which the tumor cells are concentrically arranged about a central space filled with the fibrillary neurites.
- Supporting features include include immunochemical detection of neuron-specific enolase and ultrastructural demonstration of small, membrane-bound, cytoplasmic catecholamine-containing secretory granules.
- Some neoplasms show signs of maturation, either spontaneous or therapy-induced. Larger ganglion-like cells having more abundant cytoplasm with large vesicular nuclei and prominent nucleoli may be found in tumors admixed with primitive neuroblasts (ganglioneuroblastoma). Further maturation leads to tumors containing many mature ganglion-like cells in the absence of residual neuroblasts (ganglioneuroma). 

Many factors influence prognosis, but the most important are the stage of the tumor and the age of the patient. Children below 1 year of age have a much more favorable outlook than do older children at a comparable stage of disease. 

Miscroscopic features are also an independent prognostic factor; evidence of gangliocytic differentiation is indicative of a "favorable" histology. Amplification of the MYCN oncogene in neuroblastomas is a molecular event that has profound impact on prognosis. The greater the number of copies, the worse is the prognosis. MYCN amplification is currently the most important genetic abnormality used in risk stratification of neuroblastic tumors. 

About 90% of neuroblastomas produce catecholamines (as pheochromocytomas), which are an important diagnostic feature (i.e., elevated blood levels of catecholamines and elevated urine levels of catecholamine metabolites such as vanillylmandelic acid [VMA] and homovanillic acid [HVA]). 

Seborrheic dermatitis is a scaly dermatitis on the scalp (dandruff) and face.
 - due to Pitysporium species
 - can be seen in AIDS as an opportunistic infection

ANAEMIA
Definition. Reduction of the hemoglobin level below the normal for the age and sex of the patient

Classification
1. Blood loss anaemia:
- Acute.
- Chronic (results in iron deficiency).

2. Deficiency anaemia:

- Iron deficiency.
- Megaloblastic anaemia-BI2 and Folic acid deficiency.
- Protein deficiency.
- Scurvy-Vitamin C deficiency.

3. Marrow dysfunction:
- Aplastic anaemia.
- Marrow infiltration.
- Liver failure.
- Renal failure.
- Collagen diseases.

4 Increased destruction (Heamolysis)
- Due to corpuscular defects.
- Due to extra corpuscular defects
 

OEDEMA

 Excessive accumulation of fluid in the extra vascular compartment (intersttitial tissues). This includes ascites (peritoneal sac), hydrothorax (pleural cavity) hydropericardium (pericardial space) and anasarca (generalised)

Factors which tend to accumulate interstitial fluid are:

- Intravascular hydrostatic pressure

- Interstitial osmotic pressure.

- Defective lymphatic drainage.

- Increased capillary permeability.

Factors that draw fluid into circulation are:

- Tissue hydrostatic-pressure (tissue tension).

- Plasma osmotic pressure,

Oedema fluid can be of 2 types:

A. Exudate.

It is formed due to increased capillary permeability as in inflammation.

B. Transudate

Caused by alterations of hydrostatic and osmotic pressures.

Local Oedema

1. Inflammatory oedema. Mechanisms are.

- Increased capillary permeability.

- Increased vascular hydrostatic pressure.

- Increased tissue osmotic pressure.

2.Hypersensitivity reactions especially types I and III

3. Venous obstruction :

- Thrombosis.

- Pressure from outside as in pregnancy, tourniquets.

4. Lymphatic obstruction:

- Elephantiasis in fillariasis

- Malignancies (Peau de orange in breast cancer).

Generalized Oedema

1.         Cardiac oedema

Factors :Venous pressure increased.

2. Renal oedema

- Acute glomerulonephritis

- Nephrotic syndrome

3. Nutritional (hypoproteinaemic) oedema. it is seen in

- Starvation and Kwashiorkor

- Protein losing enteropathy

4.  Hepatic oedema (predominantly ascites)

Factors:

- Fall in plasma protein synthesis

- Raised regional lymphatic and portal venous pressure

5. Oedema due to adrenal corticoids

As in Cushing's Syndrome

Pulmonary oedema

- Left heart failure and mitral stenosis.

- Rapid flv infusion specially in a patient of heart failure.