堀口 智也

BACKGROUND: No comprehensive analysis of the pulmonary sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Japan based on respiratory function tests and chest computed tomography (CT) has been reported. We evaluated post-COVID-19 conditions, especially focusing on pulmonary sequelae assessed by pulmonary function tests and chest CT. METHODS: For this prospective cohort study, we enrolled 1069 patients who presented pneumonia at the time of admission in 55 hospitals from February 2020 to September 2021. Disease severity was classified as moderateⅠ, moderate II, and severe, defined primarily according to the degree of respiratory failure. The data on post-COVID-19 conditions over 12 months, pulmonary function, and chest CT findings at 3 months were evaluated in this study. Additionally, the impact of COVID-19 severity on pulmonary sequelae, such as impaired diffusion capacity, restrictive pattern, and CT abnormalities, was also evaluated. RESULTS: The most frequently reported post-COVID-19 conditions at 3 months after COVID-19 were muscle weakness, dyspnea, and fatigue (48.4%, 29.0%, and 24.7%, respectively). The frequency of symptoms gradually decreased over subsequent months. In pulmonary function tests at 3 months, the incidence of impaired diffusion capacity and restrictive pattern increased depending on disease severity. There also were differences in the presence of chest CT abnormalities at the 3 months, which was markedly correlated with the severity. CONCLUSION: We reported a comprehensive analysis of post-COVID-19 condition, pulmonary function, and chest CT abnormalities in Japanese patients with COVID-19. The findings of this study will serve as valuable reference data for future post-COVID-19 condition research in Japan.

INTRODUCTION: Increasing numbers of cases of mild asymptomatic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) are being reported with the recent increase in chest computed tomography (CT). Bronchoscopic diagnosis of mild PAP is challenging because of the patchy distribution of lesions, which makes it difficult to obtain sufficient biopsy samples. Additionally, the pathological findings of mild PAP, particularly those that differ from severe PAP, have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to clarify the pathological findings of mild PAP and the usefulness of optical biopsy using probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE). METHODS: We performed bronchoscopic optical biopsy using pCLE and tissue biopsy in five consecutive patients with PAP (three with mild PAP and two with severe PAP). We compared the pCLE images of mild PAP with those of severe PAP by integrating clinical findings, tissue pathology, and chest computed tomography images. RESULTS: pCLE images of PAP showed giant cells with strong fluorescence, amorphous substances, and thin alveolar walls. Images of affected lesions in mild PAP were equivalent to those obtained in arbitrary lung lesions in severe cases. All three patients with mild PAP spontaneously improved or remained stable after ≥3 years of follow-up. Serum autoantibodies to granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor were detected in all five cases. CONCLUSION: Optical biopsy using pCLE can yield specific diagnostic findings, even in patients with mild PAP. pCLE images of affected areas in mild and severe PAP showed similar findings, indicating that the dysfunction level of pathogenic alveolar macrophages in affected areas is similar between both disease intensities.

BACKGROUND: Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is a recently developed non-pharmacological therapy for refractory bronchial asthma. Although increasing evidence has suggested that BT is effective for various phenotypes of severe asthma, its safety and efficacy in patients with severe irreversible impaired lung function are unclear. OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of BT in patients with refractory asthma, including patients with a severely impaired forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1). DESIGN: This was a single-center, retrospective, observational cohort study. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 15 patients with refractory asthma (Global Initiative for Asthma step 4 or 5), including patients with severely impaired airflow limitation (% predicted pre-bronchodilator FEV1 <60%), who had undergone BT between June 2016 and January 2022. We analyzed the efficacy (change in asthma symptoms, exacerbation rate, pulmonary function, asthma medication, and serum inflammatory chemokine/cytokines before and after BT) and complications in all patients. We compared these data between patients with severe obstructive lung dysfunction [group 1(G1)] and patients with FEV1 ⩾ 60% [group 2 (G2)]. RESULTS: Six patients were in G1 and nine were in G2. Clinical characteristics, T2 inflammation, and concurrent treatment were equivalent in both groups. BT significantly improved asthma-related symptoms (measured using the Asthma Control Test and Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire scores) in both groups. FEV1 was significantly improved in G1 but not in G2. Four patients in G2, but none in G1, experienced asthma exacerbation requiring additional systemic corticosteroids (including two requiring prolonged hospitalization) after BT. Long-term responders (patients who reduced systemic or inhaled corticosteroid without newly adding biologics in a follow-up > 2 years) of BT were identified in G1 and G2 (n = 2, 33.3% and n = 4, 44.4%, respectively). CONCLUSION: BT in patients with refractory asthma and severe airflow limitation is equally safe and efficacious as that in patients with moderate airflow limitation.

Syphilis can cause a wide range of systemic manifestations, such as papular rash, malaise, weight loss, muscle aches, generalized lymphadenopathy, and meningitis. However, pulmonary involvement in patients with secondary syphilis is thought to be relatively rare. Moreover, bone involvement in patients with secondary syphilis is also considered rare, and only a few cases of involvement of lung and bone in such patients have been reported. In this paper, we report a case of secondary syphilis with pulmonary involvement in the form of multiple nodules with low attenuation areas, lymphadenopathy and multiple bone lesions detected on computed tomography and 18F fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography.

Secondary fungal infections are a critical problem that accompany immunosuppressive therapy for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We report a fatal case of COVID-19 with disseminated mucormycosis diagnosed during autopsy. A 58-year-old man with diabetes was hospitalized for severe COVID-19 and treated with remdesivir, systemic steroids and tocilizumab. Following treatment, he was provided extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. However, he died of multiple organ failure accompanied by pulmonary and kidney infarction, as revealed by computed tomography. Autopsy revealed that the infarction was caused by thromboangiitis due to mucormycosis in the brain, lungs, heart, liver and kidneys. Therefore, the diagnosis of disseminated mucormycosis was established. Disseminated mucormycosis is a rare complication of COVID-19. Although its early diagnosis is difficult, the disease progresses rapidly. Hence, we propose that immunosuppressive treatment for COVID-19 should be administered with caution considering the risk of developing severe opportunistic infections, such as mucormycosis.

OBJECTIVE: Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) has been validated for diagnosis of several viral infections. However, its diagnostic accuracy in detecting SARS-CoV-2 in real-life clinical settings remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of RT-LAMP compared to reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) over the disease course of COVID-19. METHODS: A total of 124 nasopharyngeal swab samples obtained from 24 COVID-19 patients were tested by RT-LAMP and RT-qPCR. Sensitivities and specificities of RT-LAMP compared with RT-qPCR were analyzed as a function of time from onset. RESULTS: Up to the 9th day after onset, the RT-LAMP had positivity of 92.8%, and the sensitivity and specificity compared with RT-qPCR was 100%. After the 10th day of onset, however, the positivity of RT-LAMP decreased to less than 25%, and concordance of positivity between the two methods was below 60%. The limit of detection of RT-LAMP was 6.7 copies/reaction. CONCLUSIONS: Until the 9th day after the onset of symptoms, RT-LAMP had the same diagnostic accuracy as RT-qPCR. These finding suggest that RT-LAMP can be used as a diagnostic tool for COVID-19 as an alternative to RT-qPCR in the acute symptomatic phase of COVID-19.

A 34-year-old woman visited our hospital because she had had abdominal bloating for 2 months. She had been diagnosed with invasive thymoma (WHO pathological type B2), for which she had undergone chemotherapy and total thymectomy 10 years previously. Six years previously, pleural dissemination was diagnosed and she had undergone right extra-pleural pneumonectomy. On presentation to our hospital, abdominal computed tomography and ultrasound scans revealed abundant ascites and a huge liver lesion, likely a metastasis from her thymoma, obstructing the inferior vena cava. The serum-ascites albumin gradient was high at 1.4 g/dL, which indicated portal hypertension. We diagnosed Budd-Chiari syndrome caused by liver metastasis from a previous thymoma. Steroid therapy resulted in shrinkage of her liver tumor and a marked decrease in her ascites. Although rare, Budd-Chiari syndrome caused by liver metastasis from a thymoma is a possible serious complication of advanced invasive thymoma.

<p>Objective: The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in Japan is 9% among males and 3% among females. Up to 2.5 million patients are estimated to suffer from the disease, but limited number of facilities are capable of carrying out polysomnography (PSG), leaving more than 80% of these individuals are undiagnosed. In recent years, the development of new portable sleep monitoring (PMs) devices has been remarkable. We evaluate the correlation between the results of the LS-140 PMs device (Fukuda Denshi Tech Co. Ltd.), released in 2017, and those of PSG.</p><p>Methods: We obtained contemporaneous data from the same patients by equipping 58 patients with PMs (LS-140) devices while they underwent PSG. Our primary outcome was Case 2 of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), i.e., the ICC (2.1). And we used a Bland-Altman analysis to compare the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) given by PSG and the respiratory event index (REI) given by LS-140 and examined the sensitivity and specificity of the REI relative to the AHI in the diagnosis of OSA. We also carried out the same comparison but in terms of the presence or absence of periodic limb movements (PLMs).</p><p>Results: The ICC (2.1) between The REI and the AHI was 0.944, a rather high value (p<0.0001). The mean difference between AHI and REI values was –3.6 (p<0.0001), indicating a negative fixed bias. Sensitivity may decrease in groups with PLMs.</p><p>Conclusion: The REI and the AHI are highly correlated, giving LS-140 sufficient diagnostic sensitivity and specificity to screen for OSA.</p>

Favipiravir is an oral broad-spectrum inhibitor of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase that is approved for treatment of influenza in Japan. We conducted a prospective, randomized, open-label, multicenter trial of favipiravir for the treatment of COVID-19 at 25 hospitals across Japan. Eligible patients were adolescents and adults admitted with COVID-19 who were asymptomatic or mildly ill and had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1. Patients were randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio to early or late favipiravir therapy (the same regimen starting on day 6 instead of day 1). The primary endpoint was viral clearance by day 6. The secondary endpoint was change in viral load by day 6. Exploratory endpoints included time to defervescence and resolution of symptoms. Eighty-nine patients were enrolled, of whom 69 were virologically evaluable. Viral clearance occurred within 6 days in 66.7% and 56.1% of the early and late treatment groups (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.42; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.76-2.62). Of 30 patients who had a fever (≥37.5°C) on day 1, time to defervescence was 2.1 days and 3.2 days in the early and late treatment groups (aHR, 1.88; 95%CI, 0.81-4.35). During therapy, 84.1% developed transient hyperuricemia. Favipiravir did not significantly improve viral clearance as measured by RT-PCR by day 6 but was associated with numerical reduction in time to defervescence. Neither disease progression nor death occurred to any of the patients in either treatment group during the 28-day participation (Japan Registry of Clinical Trials jRCTs041190120).

&lt;b&gt;Objectives:&lt;/b&gt; It is well recognized that lung cancer can present as parenchymal infiltration mimicking pneumonia on chest X-ray films or computed tomography images. Such cancers can be misdiagnosed as inflammatory lung diseases, delaying accurate diagnosis.&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Methods:&lt;/b&gt; We retrospectively reviewed nine consecutive lung cancer patients who presented with pulmonaryconsolidation mimicking pneumonia at their initial examinations between January 2012 and December 2014 and analyzed their clinical courses and radiological and pathological findings.&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; The nine patients (six men) were aged 47 to 86 years (median 75 years). Four were smokers or exsmokers. In all cases, radiological findings included parenchymal opacification with air bronchograms; in some cases, parenchymal consolidation was associated with volume loss and traction bronchiectasis and located in the subpleural zone. Ground glass opacity or tree-in-bud appearance (suggesting aerogenous metastasis) also sometimes accompanied the consolidation. In all cases, biopsies revealed adenocarcinoma (including three cases of invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma). Neither EGFR gene mutation nor ALK gene rearrangement were found; however, KRAS mutation was identified in five cases. Although lung infiltrations had been recognized for two or more months in some cases, no previous biopsies had been performed. Furthermore, in three cases, initial bronchoscopic examination had failed to diagnose malignancy. None of these patients responded to chemotherapy and four cases died within 6 months of diagnosis.&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/b&gt; Diagnosis of lung cancer presenting as lung consolidation mimicking pneumonia is difficult and often delayed. The prognosis is poor because of delayed diagnosis and poor response to chemotherapy.