The presence of visceral pleural or lymphovascular invasion can show higher risk of mortality whereas perineural invasion has no effect on prognosis.

Objective:Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a rare lung condition that is characterized by the presence of polypoid tissues due to fibroblastic plugs within respiratory bronchioles, alveolar ducts and sacs. The three main radiologic patterns of OP include typical, solitary-focal and infiltrative forms. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) on positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) may be high in benign conditions such as OP as well as malignant diseases. The aim of our study was to investigate PET-CT characteristics of OP in patients mimicking lung cancer.Methods:The clinical and radiologic characteristics of 50 patients who were referred to our hospital for PET/CT evaluation due to suspicion of lung malignancy, and who were pathologically diagnosed as OP between 2009 and 2013 were retrospectively reviewed.Results:The mean age of the patients was 58.2 years. Ninety-six percent of patients (48) were male. Radiologic evaluation revealed 27 (54%) focal involvement, 10 (20%) consolidation with air-bronchogram (typical), 1 (2%) infiltrative and 12 (24%) other types of involvement (multiple nodules and cavitary lesions). The mean SUVmax value of the lesions on PET/CT was calculated as 6.5. Mediastinal lymph node involvement (at least one station) was detected in 76% of our study group with a mean SUVmax value of 3.27.Conclusion:OP may cause false positive results on PET/CT. However, PET/CT results may be used as a guide for invasive procedures that should be performed when there is suspicion of malignancy.

Introduction Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Carotid intima‐media thickness (CIMT) is a noninvasive method assessing atherosclerosis. Objective It was aimed to determine relationship and survival between COPD and CIMT. Methods CIMT was measured using Doppler ultrasound (USG) in 668 stable COPD patients at 24 centers. Patients were followed‐up for 2 years. Results There were 610 patients who completed the study. There were 200 patients CIMT with <0.78 mm (group 1), and 410 with CIMT ≥ 0.78 mm (group 2). There was a significant difference at the parameters of age, gender, smoking load, biomass exposure, GOLD groups and degree of airway obstruction (FEV1) between groups 1 and 2. Our results revealed positive correlations between mean CIMT and age, smoking load (pack‐years), biomass exposure (years), exacerbation rate (last year), duration of hypertension (years) and cholesterol level; negative correlations between CIMT and FEV1 (P < 0.05). According to logistic regression model, compared with group A, risk of CIMT increase was 2.2‐fold in group B, 9.7‐fold in group C and 4.4‐fold in group D (P < 0.05). Risk of CIMT increase was also related with cholesterol level (P < 0.05). Compared with infrequent exacerbation, it was 2.8‐fold in the patients with frequent exacerbation (P < 0.05). The mean survival time was slightly higher in group 1, but not significant (23.9 vs 21.8 months) (P > 0.05). Conclusion This study is the first regarding CIMT with combined GOLD assessment groups. It has revealed important findings supporting the increase in atherosclerosis risk in COPD patients. We recommend Doppler USG of the carotid artery in COPD patients at severe stages.

Background and aim: Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio(NLR) and platalet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are recently defined novel inflammatory markers which are readily available. Their prognostic signifigance has been shown for a number of inflammatory diseases. A recent study evaluated the role of NLR in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD). Thus, we aimed to investigate the relations between NLR, PLR and severity of COPD in male patients who had stable disease. Patients and methods:The clinical and dermographical charecteristics of 39 patients were reviewed retrospectively. Complete blood cell counts and differential values were recorded from electronic database of the hospital. NLR and PLR were calculated from absolute neutrophil and lymphocyte counts from CBC, respectively.Results: PLR was higher in high risk group of patients with severe airflow limitation (p = 0.011). Conclusion:The results of this study showed that PLR could be a candidate as a prognostic marker in showing the severity of stable COPD.

Adenocarcinoma had higher rates of positive immunostaining for AMACR than SCC (p = 0,046). But the presence of AMACR expression did not have a statistically meaningful effect on overall and progression-free survival in adenocarcinoma and SCC of lung.