KUKHON, FAEQ R

Community-acquired pneumonia is still a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Since the inflammatory response induced by the immune system is often a major contributor to the lung injury, it becomes reasonable to assess the potential benefit of anti-inflammatory agents in treating community-acquired pneumonia. The role of corticosteroids as adjunct anti-inflammatory agents in treating community-acquired pneumonia is still controversial. Several studies have assessed the benefit of their use in patients with community-acquired pneumonia. In most of those studies, the route of corticosteroids administration was systemic. The aim of this article is to provide a concise review of the role of corticosteroids in treating community-acquired pneumonia when administered via inhalational route, with the potential benefit of avoiding systemic side effects of corticosteroids while exerting the same anti-inflammatory effects on the lungs. Conclusion: the use of inhaled corticosteroids may be of benefit in certain patient subsets with community-acquired pneumonia. Further randomized controlled trials are needed for better determination of such patient subsets.

Oesophageal cancer is categorised among the most fatal cancers across the world with a mortality ranking of sixth position. Chemotherapy with FOLFOX—a regimen of fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin—has been approved in the treatment of oesophageal cancer owing to its lower toxicity compared with the previous regimens. We report the first case of a patient with oesophageal cancer metastatic to the hyoid presenting with sudden-onset shortness of breath and anterior neck swelling secondary to treatment with FOLFOX-6. CT was notable for subglottic soft-tissue swelling and cystic necrosis of the hyoid bone tumour, and the patient subsequently required placement of a definitive airway via tracheostomy. This case illustrates the importance of anticipating the need for pre-emptive tracheostomy in patients with hyoid bone tumours receiving treatment with FOLFOX.

AbstractRationaleThe use of endobronchial ultrasound‐guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS‐TBNA) is currently recommended for staging non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in centrally located tumors, tumors >3 cm, or with radiologic evidence of lymph node (LN) metastasis. Current guidelines do not recommend staging EBUS‐TBNA in patients with stage I NSCLC who do not have any of the aforementioned conditions.ObjectiveWe hypothesize that using EBUS‐TBNA is useful for detecting occult metastasis in radiologic stage I NSCLC.MethodsIn this single‐center, retrospective study, charts of patients ≥18 years old who underwent staging EBUS‐TBNA from January 2005 to May 2019 were reviewed. Only patients with combined positron‐emission tomography and computed tomography (PET/CT) scans consistent with radiologic stage I NSCLC were included. Identified variables included: age, gender, personal history of any cancer, smoking history, tumor location, tumor centrality, tumor size, tumor PET activity, histopathologic type of NSCLC, and LN biopsy results. Patients whose LN samples showed a diagnosis other than NSCLC were excluded. The association between LN positivity, and each of the variables was assessed using Pearson's correlation for categorical variables, and logistic regression analysis for continuous variables.ResultsFrom the 2,892 initially screened patients, 188 were included. Of those, 13 (6.9%; 95% CI, 4%–11%) had a malignancy‐positive LN biopsy. The number needed to test (NNT) in order to detect one case of any occult metastasis was 15. Among the included variables, a significant association was found between LN positivity and tumor centrality, with central tumors found in 61.5% of patients with positive LN (n = 8) (p < 0.01). This association stayed significant after adjusting for age, gender, smoking history, tumor size, tumor location, and PET activity (p = 0.015). Among patients with malignancy‐positive LN biopsies, five (38.5%; 95% CI, 17.6%–64.6%) were upstaged to N1, and eight (61.5%; 95% CI, 35.4%–82.4%) were upstaged to N2, with NNT of 23 to detect one case of occult N2 metastasis. Subgroup analysis comparing LN‐positive patients based on their N stage did not show statistically significant association with any of the variables.ConclusionBased on our results and along with the existing evidence, EBUS‐TBNA should be recommended as part of the routine staging in all patients with radiologic stage I NSCLC.