June 2012 Arizona Thoracic Society Notes

The June 2012 Arizona Thoracic Society meeting was held on 6/27/2012 at Scottsdale Shea beginning at 6:30 PM. There were 23 in attendance representing the pulmonary, critical care, sleep, pathology, infectious disease, radiology, and thoracic surgery communities.

Discussions were held regarding offering CME and partnering with other thoracic societies in the Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care. This was endorsed by the membership. There was also discussion regarding what to discuss with Rep. David Schweikert on August 8.

Seven cases were presented:

1. Thomas Colby, a pulmonary pathologist from the Mayo Clinic, presented a case of a 45 yo woman with a history of asthma and systemic lupus erythematosis who was found to have cysts on CT scanning. The CT scan was considered consistent with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). A lung biopsy showed only changes consistent with asthma in addition to the cysts. This case was published along with 4 similar cases by Rowan C, et al. Am J of Surg Pathol 2012;36:228–34.
2. Jonathan Ruzi, a pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist in Scottsdale showed an unusual flow-volume loop in an asymptomatic patient (Figure 1 below). Figure 1. Flow-volume loop of patient presented in case 2.         The cause of the obstruction was unknown but most thought this represented a type of upper airway obstruction from redundant tissue such as seen in obstructive sleep apnea or an enlarged tongue.
3. Henry Luedy, a pulmonary fellow, presented a case of an 82 yo with cough who was a former smoker with COPD who presented with a cough. The patient presented with a consolidative process in the lingula and underwent bronchoscopy which revealed bronchial inflammation and a trace of blood in the lingula. Biopsy revealed an adenocarcinoma. Unfortunately, the pathology was not presented due to Dr. Luedy being unable to obtain the slides or images from the VA due to a clerk citing HIPAA regulations as the reason. A discussion was led by Dr. Colby on how the pathology affects the classification of these tumors as bronchoalveolar or adenocarcinoma and how there is much overlap between the classification. It was noted that educational activities are excluded from HIPAA regulations as long as the data is de-identified and there are not identifiers on a pathology slide.
4. Tonya Whiting, a pulmonary fellow, and Manny Mathew, a pulmonologist based at Good Samaritan, presented a case of a man who developed shortness of breath while camping in the White Mountains. CT scanning revealed dense consolidation especially of the left upper lobe. He was referred for bronchoscopy but both his symptoms and consolidation resolved within 24 hours. It was felt this was a case of high altitude pulmonary edema which was somewhat unusual because high altitude pulmonary edema is unusual below 12000 feet (the patient was camping at about 9000 feet).
5. Tonya Whiting and Allen Thomas, a pulmonologist at the VA, presented a 61 year old man with a history of polysubstance abuse and multiple lung nodules. Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage and transbronchial biopsy was negative. Open lung biopsy revealed brochiolcentric inflammation with acute lung injury. The patient was treated with corticosteroids and the nodules resolved in 2-3 weeks. The feeling was that this represented cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP) presenting with multiple nodules which is a rare presentation for COP.
6. Andrew Goldstein, a thoracic surgeon, presented a case of a 50 year old asymptomatic, nonsmoker with a huge, > 10 cm, lung tumor. The lesion was round and smooth and did not invade the chest wall on CT scan. Dr. Goldstein pointed out that pain is sensitive in predicting chest wall invasion. The tumor was resected and proved to be a carcinoid tumor.
7. Tim Kurberski, an infectious disease specialist from Maricopa Medical Center, presented a 39 year old with a history of systemic lupus erythematosis on corticosteroids who presented with shortness and breath thought to be secondary to pulmonary edema from a cardiomyopathy. The CT scan revealed diffuse ground glass opacities. The patient also had a rash near the buttocks which was thought to be possible shingles and the chest findings possible chickenpox pneumonia. The steroids were increased but the patient failed to improve. She underwent bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage which revealed larvae consistent with Strongyloidiasis.

There being no further cases, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 with the next meeting being a special meeting on August 8 when Rep. David Schweikert is scheduled to attend. 

Richard A. Robbins, M.D.

CCR Representative

Arizona Thoracic Society

Reference as: Robbins RA. June 2012 Arizona Thoracic Society notes. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care 2012;4:211-3. (Click here for a PDF version of the Notes)

April 2012 Arizona Thoracic Society Notes

The April 2012 Arizona Thoracic Society meeting was held on 4/17/2012 at Scottsdale Shea beginning at 6:30 PM. There were 19 in attendance representing the pulmonary, critical care, sleep, infectious disease, radiology, and nursing communities.

Discussions were held regarding moving the meeting to another day of the week to allow the Mayo pathologists to attend. It was decided to try and move the meeting to the third Wednesday of every month, pending availability of a meeting room at Shea.

Because this is an election year and members of Congress made themselves available, it was thought it might be reasonable to invite members of Arizona’s Congressional delegation to an Arizona Thoracic Society meeting in order to discuss issues important to the medical community.

Three cases were presented:

1. Dr. Timothy Kuberski, who has recently been named chief of infectious disease at Maricopa Medical Center, presented a case of a 52 year old Native American male who complained of cough. He was taking lisinopril for hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Chest x-ray showed multiple small pulmonary nodules. IgM was positive for coccidioidomycosis but IgG and urinary antigen for coccidioidomycosis were negative. HIV was negative. He complained of headache and CT scan revealed hydrocephalus. Because it was unclear if he had coccidioidomycosis or tuberculosis he was treated for both. Eventually he was shown to have tuberculous meningitis. He is now on 5 drugs for tuberculosis including INH, rifampin, PZA, streptomycin and Levaquin. A comment was made that miliary patterns in coccidioidomycosis appeared to only occur in immunocompromised hosts. No one could recall seeing one that was not.
2. Allen Thomas from the Phoenix VA presented a case of a 61 year old with increasing dyspnea, cough, occasional blood-streaked sputum, night sweats and 30 lb weight loss. He had a history of dipolar disease, diabetes and had recently been evaluated for an abdominal mass that was not identified. Dry crackles were noted on lung exam. Chest x-ray was remarkably similar to the previous presentation with multiple small nodules noted which were new compared to a chest x-ray 2 years previously. He had an elevated WBC with a left shift. Sputum cultures, coccidioidomycosis serology, and a tuberculosis skin test were all negative. Bronchoscopy with BAL and transbronchial biopsies was all nondiagnostic. For this reason a VATS was performed. Cultures and special stains for organisms were all negative. The biopsy slides were sent to the Mayo group and they diagnosed cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP). Dr. Thomas presented literature that a miliary pattern in COP had rarely been reported. The patient was improved on oral corticosteroids.
3. Rick Robbins, retired pulmonologist, presented a case of a 31 yo previously health woman who presented with nonproductive cough, dyspnea, fever and arthralgias over 3 weeks. She had been empirically treated with a course of Levaquin and a course of Biaxin without improvement. She presented to the ER with increasing dyspnea and was found to have a markedly elevated WBC of 49,000 and a platelet count of over 1 million. Her only medication was valproic acid for prevention of migraine headaches. Physical exam revealed a moderately dyspneic woman despite a non-rebreathing mask. Diffuse crackles were heard on auscultation of the lungs. Bronchoscopy with BAL and cultures was negative as were HIV, coccidioidomycosis, Legionella, and Mycoplasma titers. ANA, RF, histoplasma urinary antigen, and blood cultures were also negative. She was transferred to the ICU and required endotracheal intubation. Because her diagnosis was unclear, a VATS was performed which revealed acute inflammation with eosinophils. She was begun on steroids and rapidly improved. She eventually admitted to smoking crack cocaine just prior to her hospital admission. It was noted that the course and presentation of acute eosinophilic pneumonia was variable and has been associated with use of crack cocaine. It was mentioned that a case of acute eosinophilic pneumonia had appeared as the April 2012 Imaging Case of the Month.

There being no further cases, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for May 15 but may be moved to a Wednesday.

Richard A. Robbins, M.D.

Reference as: Robbins RA. April 2012 Arizona Thoracic Society notes. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care 2012;4:114-5. (Click here for a PDF version of the Notes)