[Pseudochylothorax during the course of rheumatoid arthritis]

Psudochylothorax is uncommon among pleural fluids. It can be observed during tuberculosis or rheumatoid arthritis in majority. A case of a 62 years old man with chronic pleural fluid is presented. Patient had rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed 40 years ago. For last 13 years symptomsless bilateral pleural fluid was observed. Antituberculous drugs were used without success. Plural fluid obtained after puncture had high level of cholesterol with it[symbol: see text]s crystals, without chylomikrons and triglycerides. Diagnosis of pseudochylothorax in the course of rheumatoid arthritis was established. After plural puncture fluid was removed and did not appear later. Differential diagnosis of pleural fluids is presented.

[Myocardial infarction as a cause of death in patients treated for small cell lung cancer]

The aim of our study was to assess frequency of death from myocardial infarction in patients (pts) treated for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). 33 out of 845 patients treated for SCLC died from myocardial infarction. All patients were smokers. In 6 patients coexisted hypertension, in 2--diabetes and in 5--obesity. Eight patients have had cardiac disease in anamnesis. All patients were treated with one or more number of cardiotoxic drugs as DDP, VCR or VBL, E, MTX and ADR which are able to cause ischemic heart disease or myocardial infarction. Sixteen out of 33 patients have had radiotherapy of lung tumour. Death from myocardial infarction occurred from 0.5 up till 98.5 months from the beginning of start treatment. Eighteen men died from myocardial infarction in the first year of treatment. Risk of death from myocardial infarction was 15 times greater in men with SCLC than in men of the polish population at the same age and at the same time.

[The cause of infection as the main or additional cause of death in patients treated for small cell lung cancer]

In 116 out of 845 patients treated for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in the Institute of Tuberculosis and Chest Disease in Warsaw in the years 1980-1994 infection was the main or coexistent cause of death. In 4.1% infection was proved of bacterial origin and in further 6.5% of probable bacterial origin (in the later group cultures were negative or not done but fungal infection, pneumocystosis pneumonia and tuberculosis were excluded on autopsy). In 1.54% infection was of fungal origin, 1.2% patients died of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and 0.35% of tuberculosis. The majority of patients who died with and/or from infection had treatment-related leukopenia and 99 of them were treated with corticosteroids. Fungal infection, pneumocytosis and tuberculosis were found more frequently than bacterial infection in patients treated with cumulative dose of prednisone above 2000 mg. 33.62% patients had no symptoms or signs of infection. No connection was found between the absence of symptoms and treatment with steroids or the grade of leukopenia. In all cases infection was recognised very late, in 58 only at autopsy.

Risk of late recurrence and/or second lung cancer after treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC)

The aim of this study was to illustrate some difficulties in distinguishing late recurrence of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), from second primary lung cancer. Three-hundred fourteen SCLC patients were observed at the Institute of Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases in Warsaw, during the period 1976-1985. All patients were treated with chemotherapy and 125 were also treated with radiotherapy on the tumour and mediastinum. Nineteen patients (6%) survived 3 years. This group consisted of eight females (9%) and 11 males (5%). In all of them a complete remission was obtained. In six patients from this group no progression of lung cancer was observed. Four of them are still living, 7.9-16.2 years after the start of treatment. Two patients died of heart infarct. In the remaining 13 patients, progression of SCLC or development of new cancer was noted in the course of observation. In seven of them, histological proof of the character of progression was obtained. In four cases non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was diagnosed after 3-11 years of observation. In one of them SCLC metastases in the liver were unexpectedly found in the autopsy, although adenocarcinoma in the lung diagnosed during bronchoscopy was also confirmed in the autopsy. In three cases SCLC was diagnosed. In one case, 2.7 years from the beginning of treatment, only SCLC metastases were found during laparoscopy. SCLC was found in two other cases after a 7-year cancer-free period. In one of those patients, a new lesion was found in the other lung while the second patient developed a new lesion exactly in the place of the former cancer. In six other patients no histological proof of the character of progression was obtained. Two of the six are still living, 8.2 and 15.1 years later. In the first of these two, a new lesion developed very early in the course of treatment in the same place as the primary tumour and it was regarded as the progression of SCLC. In the second patient, who probably had NSCLC the lesion developed in the contralateral lung after 12.5 years of remission and disappeared after radiotherapy. Four patients died of cancer after 3.2-6.4 years of observation. The cumulative risk of a second primary lung cancer after a 3-year survival period oscillated in our SCLC patients between 4% and 6% for every patient/year of observation. It was concluded that prognosis in SCLC patients is still doubtful, nevertheless, some patients made a complete recovery.

[Evaluation of the second line of treatment of patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung]

Efficacy of second line therapy which included vepesid and adriamycin or vepesid, adriamycin and cis-platin, in small cell lung cancer was studied. Objective remission was seen in 35% of the once more treated patients. Analysis of survival time showed significant prolongation of it in cases treated once more in comparison with a group of patients with progression of the neoplastic process during primary therapy or patients not treated due to relapses of the process. The observed difference was bigger in patients that reacted with a remission to the second line therapy.