[Six cases of acute pulmonary embolism associated with COVID-19]

Rising from the province of Wuhan in China, the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 broke out in winter 2019, causing a global pandemic. In most cases reported, COVID-19 symptoms include cough, dyspnea, myalgia and asthenia. In some cases, the disease can also cause severe respiratory distress syndrome, requiring intensive care. Recent studies suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection predisposes to thromboembolic event such as pulmonary embolism. Moreover, there is an overlap between signs and symptoms of pulmonary embolism and COVID-19, which brings a challenge for the diagnosis and could potentially be fatal. Nevertheless, the incidence rate of pulmonary embolism in cases of COVID-19 is currently not known. In this paper we describe six cases of pulmonary embolism associated with COVID-19.

[Clinical case of the month. Carrington's disease: idiopathic chronic eosinophilic pneumonia]

Idiopathic Chronic Eosinophilic Pneumonia (ICEP) or Carrington's disease is a rare disease, exclusively pulmonary, and of an unknown origin. Connective tissues of the lungs are infiltrated by eosinophilic cell elements. This illness is progressive, consisting of dyspnea, cough and thoracic pain. In addition, the general condition is impaired. The average delay between onset of symptoms and discovery of chest radiographic opacities is often longer than 3-4 months. Symptoms and chest X-ray quickly improve under corticosteroid treatment. In the future, new research could lead to alternative treatments. We report the case of a woman with ICEP. We shall discuss the diagnostic approach, envisage the potential complications and describe the treatment of the disease.

[Hooping cough in adults, think about it!]

We report the case of a 47 year old patient who had been suffering from persistent cough for more than three weeks. Patient coughed predominantly during night time, without fever. The amoxicillin-clavulanic acid initially prescribed was not effective. A series of complementary investigations were performed before serology finally identified Bordetella pertussis infection after two months of symptoms which improved slowly without evident benefit of macrolide treatment. The diagnosis of whooping cough was also established for the wife of the patient with fast resolution of the symptoms after rapid unset of treatment with macrolides.

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum caused by bleomycin-induced pneumonitis

We report the case of a 24-yr-old woman treated for lymphoma who developed bleomycin-induced interstitial pneumonia. This interstitial pneumonia was complicated by spontaneous pneumomediastinum. Pneumomediastinum is an unfrequent side effect of high dose bleomycin-induced pneumonitis (BIP) and we describe the first case occurring with low-dose of bleomycin.

[COPD: genetics and environmental interactions]

Smoking is the main environmental risk factor of COPD and accounts for 85% to 90% of COPD. However, 10-15% of COPD patients have never smoked and only a fraction of smokers ever develop COPD. Indeed, genetic and environmental (pollution, occupational and infectious) factors, also influence the risk of developing COPD. Finaly COPD must be considered as the clinical consequence of multiple complex interactions between environmental factors and genetic susceptibility. The latter is not clearly understood, with the exception of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. In this article, we present the different aspects of this complex disease which is primarily environmental.

[Organizing pneumonia: three case reports]

Infiltrative lung lesions are not always linked to infectious processes or cancers. An interesting entity, the OP (Organizing Pneumonia) or COP (Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia)--formerly BOOP (Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia)--is discussed through observations repor. ted in this article. We provide some keys to allow the astute observer to target this often curable disease.

[Lung cancer. Epidemiology and etiologic factors]

Lung cancer is the most frequent cause of death by cancer worldwide. Despite improvements in the treatment the vital prognosis remains poor with an estimated 5-year survival rate of 15 % all stages together. Even if some environmental exposure may favour apparition of the disease, tobacco smoking is by far the greatest risk factor for developing lung cancer. Recent progresses have been made on the identification of cellular mechanisms and genetic abnormalities that make the patients more prone to develop lung cancer.

[Update in treatment of non small cell lung cancer]

Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and "biological" treatment are differently used in the treatment of non small cell lung cancer. Surgery is the cornerstone of the stages I-II treatment; chemotherapy is dominant in the treatment of metastatic stage, but is more and more used in earlier stages. A large discussion is still open for advanced non metastatic stages, even if the association of the 3 major modalities is extensively studied. We discuss our position in this setting.