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Editors
Francis X. McCormack Ralph J. Panos
University of Cincinnati University of Cincinnati
Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care
231 Albert Sabin Way 231 Albert Sabin Way
Cincinnati OH 45267
Cincinnati OH 45267 Mail Location 0564
Mail Location 0564 USA
USA
[email protected][email protected]Bruce C. Trapnell
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Medical Center
Division of Pulmonary Biology
3333 Burnet Ave.
Cincinnati OH 45229
USA
[email protected]
ISBN 978-1-58829-963-5 e-ISBN 978-1-59745-384-4
DOI 10.1007/978-1-59745-384-4
Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010920243
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
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Preface
Dr. Sharon Rounds, the editor for this series who invited us to write a book on rare
lung diseases, developed the idea after attending the 2004 Lymphangioleiomyomatosis
(LAM) Foundation annual research meeting. She was a keynote speaker at that event
(during her tenure as the president of the American Thoracic Society) and was wit-
ness to the power of patient advocacy and the mission-based scientific effort that had
brought this rare disease of women from obscurity to clinical trials with targeted molec-
ular therapies in under a decade. The progress in pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP),
pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM), inherited disorders of surfactant metabolism,
and pulmonary arterial hypertension, to name a few, has been no less astounding.
Advances have come from the most surprising directions; fruit flies for LAM, genet-
ically engineered mice made for other purposes for PAP, and groundbreaking high-
density SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) analyses done on a handful of families
for PAM. In many cases, insights into biology gained from rare diseases have informed
research approaches and treatment strategies for more common diseases; for example,
knowledge gained from the study of PAP about the role of GM-CSF in the lung has
sparked interest in the use of anti GM-CSF approaches to control both pulmonary and
extrapulmonary inflammation in a variety of diseases. The finding that interstitial lung
disease develops in families with cytotoxic mutations in surfactant protein C (SP-C),
a gene which is expressed only in alveolar type cells, has underscored the importance
of the integrity of the alveolar epithelium in the pathogenesis of parenchymal fibrosis.
Opportunities to approach lung disease pathogenesis from the vantage point of a pri-
mary molecular defect are gifts from nature that are uniquely abundant among the rare
lung disorders.
We salute the NIH and the National Center for Research Resources for their vision in
facilitating the translation of basic research advances in rare lung diseases into clinical
reality through the Rare Lung Disease Consortium, a network of 13 US and interna-
tional sites that is currently conducting clinical trials and studies in LAM, alpha one
antitrypsin deficiency, pediatric interstitial lung disease, and PAP. It has been a rare
privilege to work on such fascinating diseases with such capable investigators from all
over the world over the past 6 years.
v
vi Preface
The format for this volume is unique. Most chapters have been authored by a clini-
cian and a basic scientist who are expert in the disease topic and underlying molecular
defect, respectively. Their charge was to focus on the genetic basis and molecular patho-
genesis of disease, animal models, clinical features, diagnostic approach, conventional
management and treatment, and future therapeutic targets and directions. The intent was
not to provide a broad overview, but rather to shed light on the molecular mechanisms
that evoke the clinical presentation and engender treatment strategies for each disease.
We hope that this approach will prove useful for pulmonary clinicians and scientists
alike.
We thank our wives, Holly, Jean, and Vicky, for their support and indulgence with
late night emails and work-filled weekends, Dr. Rounds for the invitation to write the
book, and all of the authors who contributed.
Francis McCormack, MD
Ralph Panos, MD
Bruce Trapnell, MD
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
1 A Clinical Approach to Rare Lung Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ralph J. Panos
2 Clinical Trials for Rare Lung Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Jeffrey Krischer
3 Idiopathic and Familial Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension . . . . . . . . 39
Jean M. Elwing, Gail H. Deutsch, William C. Nichols,
and Timothy D. Le Cras
4 Lymphangioleiomyomatosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Elizabeth P. Henske and Francis X. McCormack
5 Autoimmune Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Bruce C. Trapnell, Koh Nakata, and Yoshikazu Inoue
6 Mutations in Surfactant Protein C and Interstitial Lung Disease . . . . . 133
Ralph J. Panos and James P. Bridges
7 Hereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Claire Shovlin and S. Paul Oh
8 Hermansky–Pudlak Syndrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Lisa R. Young and William A. Gahl
9 Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Charlie Strange and Sabina Janciauskiene
vii
viii Contents
10 The Marfan Syndrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Amaresh Nath and Enid R. Neptune
11 Surfactant Deficiency Disorders: SP-B and ABCA3 . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Lawrence M. Nogee
12 Pulmonary Capillary Hemangiomatosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Edward D. Chan, Kathryn Chmura, and Andrew Sullivan
13 Anti-glomerular Basement Disease: Goodpasture’s Syndrome . . . . . . 275
Gangadhar Taduri, Raghu Kalluri, and Ralph J. Panos
14 Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Michael R. Knowles, Hilda Metjian, Margaret W. Leigh,
and Maimoona A. Zariwala
15 Pulmonary Alveolar Microlithiasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Koichi Hagiwara, Takeshi Johkoh, and Teruo Tachibana
16 Cystic Fibrosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
André M. Cantin
17 Pulmonary Langerhans’ Cell Histiocytosis – Advances
in the Understanding of a True Dendritic Cell Lung Disease . . . . . . . 369
Robert Vassallo
18 Sarcoidosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Ralph J. Panos and Andrew P. Fontenot
19 Scleroderma Lung Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Brent W. Kinder
Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Contributors
James P. Bridges, PhD, Department of Neonatology in Pulmonary Biology, Children’s
Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
André M. Cantin, MD, Department of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke,
Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
Edward D. Chan, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, National Jewish Medical and
Research Center, Denver, CO
Kathryn Chmura, BA, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of
Medicine, Denver, CO
Gail H. Deutsch, MD, Department of Pathology, Seattle Children’s Hospital,
Seattle, WA
Jean M. Elwing, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati
School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
Andrew P. Fontenot, MD, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Health
Sciences Center, Denver, CO
William A. Gahl, MD, PhD, National Human Genome Research Institute, National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Koichi Hagiwara, MD, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Saitama Medical School,
Saitama, Japan
Elizabeth P. Henske, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA
Yoshikazu Inoue, MD, PhD, Department of Diffuse Lung Diseases and Respiratory
Failure, National Hospital Organization Kinki-Chuo Chest Medical Center, Sakai,
Osaka, Japan
Sabina Janciauskiene, PhD, Department of Clinical Sciences, University Hospital,
Malmo, Sweden
ix
x Contributors
Takeshi Jokoh, MD, Department of Radiology, Osaka University Hospital, Osaka,
Japan
Raghu Kalluri, PhD, Department of Medicine and Biological Chemistry and Molecular
Pharmacology, Center for Matrix Biology, Beth Israel Deaconess, Boston, MA
Brent W. Kinder, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati
School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
Michael R. Knowles, MD, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, NC
Jeffrey Krischer, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Epidemiology Center, Uni-
versity of South Florida, Tampa Bay, FL
Timothy D. LeCras, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati School of
Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Margaret W. Leigh, MD, Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, NC
Francis X. McCormack, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of
Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Hilda Morillas, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Koh Nakata, MD, PhD, Bioscience Medical Research Center, Niigata University
Medical Hospital, Japan
Amaresh Nath, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati School
of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
Enid R. Neptune, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, John Hopkins University
School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
William C. Nichols, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati School of
Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Lawrence M. Nogee, MD, Department of Pediatrics, John Hopkins University School
of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
S. Paul Oh, PhD, Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, University of
Florida Cancer & Genetic Research Complex, Gainesville, FL
Ralph J. Panos, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati School
of Medicine, Cincinnati VA Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Claire Shovlin, PhD, MA, FRCP, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Imperial
College London, UK
Charlie Strange, MD, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina,
Charleston, SC
Andrew Sullivan, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Colorado
School of Medicine, Denver, CO
Contributors xi
Gangadar Taduri, MD, Department of Nephrology, Nizam’s Institute of Medical
Sciences, Andhrapradesh, India
Teruo Tachibana, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Aizenbashi Hospital, Osaka,
Japan
Bruce C. Trapnell, MD, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Internal
Medicine, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Robert Vassallo, MD, Department of Pulmonology, Mayo Clinic Rochester,
Rochester, MN
Lisa R. Young, MD, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Internal Medicine,
University of Cincinnati School of Medicine and Cincinnati Children s Hospital Medi-
cal Center, Cincinnati, OH
Maimoona A. Zariwala, PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
1
A Clinical Approach to Rare Lung
Diseases
Ralph J. Panos
When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don’t expect to see a zebra.
Theodore E. Woodward, MD, University of Maryland, Circa 1950 (1)
Abstract The National Institutes of Health Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) defines a
rare or orphan disease as a disorder with a prevalence of fewer than 200,000 affected
individuals within the United States whereas in Europe, rare diseases are defined as
those disorders that affect 1 or fewer individuals per 2,000 persons. Several consortia
exist for the compilation of rare lung disorders: the British orphan lung disease (BOLD)
registry, the British pediatric orphan lung disease (BPOLD) registry, the French Groupe
d’Etudes et de Recherche sur les Maladies Orphelines Pulmonaires (GERM”O”P”)
database, and the Rare Lung Disease Consortium (RLDC) in the United States. The
National Organization for Rare Diseases (www.raredisease.org) is a nongovernmental
federation of organizations to assist individuals with rare diseases that seeks to expand
recognition and treatment of individuals with these rare illnesses. This chapter presents
an approach to pulmonary medicine that aims to go beyond the usual respiratory disor-
ders to examine the evaluation and understanding of rare lung diseases that have pro-
vided extraordinary insights into not only lung function in health and disease but also
human biology in general. The respiratory history, physical examination, chest imaging,
and related studies are reviewed. The emphasis of this chapter is the formulation of a
differential diagnosis that encompasses rare noninfectious, nonmalignant lung diseases
of adults and is based on the presence or absence of associated signs and symptoms.
Keywords: rare lung disease, respiratory history, respiratory physical examination,
chest imaging
Introduction
In medicine, “zebra” is a common idiom for a rare disease or condition that may be
conspicuously noticeable among the herd of common disorders or, more frequently,
F.X. McCormack et al. (eds.), Molecular Basis of Pulmonary Disease, Respiratory Medicine, 1
DOI 10.1007/978-1-59745-384-4_1, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
2 R.J. Panos
hidden amidst their thundering hooves. When confronted with hoof beats – a patient’s
constellation of symptoms, signs, and other studies – most physicians consider the sim-
plest and most common diagnosis as the likely cause. This principle of parsimony is
based on methodological reductionism and was developed by William of Ockham, a
14th century English logician and Franciscan friar. Ockham’s razor, Entia non sunt
multiplicanda praeter necessitatem (entities should not be multiplied beyond neces-
sity), is a central premise in medical diagnosis (1). In the current medical environment
of history and physical examination templates, the physician is frequently presented
with a delimited database that constrains the development of a comprehensive differ-
ential diagnosis – not only are zebras excluded but the hoofbeats of the herd of horses
have been muffled. The time to search for zebras in the busy, frenetic, clinical envi-
ronment is a luxury that few pulmonologists enjoy. Thus, in many ways, a clinical
approach to rare lung diseases is an oxymoron. The concept that common things hap-
pen commonly is inculcated into our medical being from medical school onward and
reinforced by regimented, templated patient assessments guided by required, bulleted,
billing-based guidelines that limit and restrict the formation of an unbiased and com-
prehensive database from which an expansive differential diagnosis is developed – one
that includes the zebras.
The vast spectrum of medical diagnoses is constantly expanding with the recognition
and publication of approximately five new disorders each week (2). In the United
States, approximately 25 million people are afflicted with over 6,000 rare diseases
(3). The National Institutes of Health Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) defines a rare
or orphan disease as a disorder with a prevalence of fewer than 200,000 affected
individuals within the United States. The ORD maintains a web-based, searchable list
of over 7,000 rare diseases with links to various information sources. The National
Organization for Rare Diseases (www.raredisease.org) is a nongovernmental federation
of organizations to assist individuals with rare diseases that seeks to expand recog-
nition and treatment of individuals with these rare illnesses. In Europe, rare diseases
are defined as those disorders that affect 1 or fewer individuals per 2,000 persons.
Orphanet is a European database of nearly 6,000 rare disorders (www.orphan.net).
In addition to these general collections of rare diseases, there are several databases
limited to rare lung disorders: the British orphan lung disease (BOLD) register was
established in 2000 for adult rare lung diseases in the United Kingdom (www.brit-
thoracic.org.uk/ClinicalInformation/RareLungDiseasesBOLD/tabid/110/Default.aspx);
the British pediatric orphan lung disease (BPOLD) is a registry of nine rare pedi-
atric lung disorders in the United Kingdom (www.bpold.co.uk); and the Groupe
d’Etudes et de Recherche sur les Maladies Orphelines Pulmonaires (GERM”O”P”) has
established a database of patients with rare lung diseases in France (http://germop.univ-
lyon1.fr/). In the United States, the Rare Lung Disease Consortium (RLDC)
(www.rarediseasesnetwork.epi.usf.edu/rldc/index.htm) was founded in 2003 with
collaborating centers throughout the United States and Japan. The RLDC has ongoing
clinical trials in several rare lung diseases including lymphangioleiomyomatosis,
alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
This chapter is an introduction to a safari in pulmonary medicine that aims to go
beyond the usual pulmonary disorders to examine the evaluation and understanding of
rare lung diseases – the zebras – that have provided extraordinary insights into not only
lung function in health and disease but also human biology in general. The evaluation
of all patients begins with the history and physical examination. For those individuals
1 A Clinical Approach to Rare Lung Diseases 3
with respiratory symptoms, chest imaging and physiologic studies provide further
information to discern the underlying process. The role of the clinical history and pul-
monary signs and symptoms as well as chest imaging in the evaluation and diagnosis
of respiratory disorders has been reviewed in most textbooks of pulmonary medicine
and radiology. We will briefly review the respiratory history, physical examination,
chest imaging, and related studies. The emphasis of this chapter is the formulation of
a differential diagnosis that encompasses rare noninfectious, nonmalignant lung dis-
eases of adults and is based on the presence or absence of associated signs and symp-
toms. Environmental exposures, pneumoconioses, and drug-induced pulmonary disor-
ders are not discussed. Many processes are limited strictly or principally to the lungs,
and for these disorders, the radiographic imaging, physiologic, other laboratory stud-
ies, and genetic testing may be essential for the identification of the underlying disease.
Table 1.1 presents a listing of rare lung disorders or conditions that are limited princi-
pally to the lungs. Other disorders affect the lungs and other organ systems. For these
processes, the key to the diagnosis is the recognition of associated constellations of
symptoms that affect the lungs as well as another system or systems. Tables 1.2, 1.3,
1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, and 1.11 present differential diagnoses of lung disorders
based on associated organ involvement.
Diagnostic Evaluation
The diagnostic evaluation of a patient with suspected lung disease requires a logi-
cal sequential series of steps to distinguish the myriad potential causes of pulmonary
pathology. The initial approach should include a comprehensive history, physical exam-
ination, chest X-rays, and pulmonary function testing.
History
Although most clinicians do not initiate their clinical evaluations looking for rare pul-
monary processes, a comprehensive, logical, and sequential evaluation is essential in
the evaluation of rare or complex pulmonary disorders. The initial and most impor-
tant step in this assessment is a comprehensive clinical history to determine the pul-
monary symptoms and any associated systemic clues to the etiology of the underlying
process. The most frequent presenting respiratory symptoms include breathlessness,
cough, chest discomfort, and respiratory sounds or noises. Specific qualities of these
presenting symptoms such as onset, duration, location, quality, aggravating or alleviat-
ing factors, and associated respiratory or systemic manifestations may help establish a
specific diagnosis or limit the differential diagnosis. Occasionally, patients subtly adapt
their lifestyle, such as decreasing activity level to minimize or alleviate the sensation
of breathlessness. The astute clinician must often delve beyond the initial presenting
symptoms to determine whether the patient is attempting to compensate for insidiously
progressive respiratory processes. Not infrequently, patients are referred for pulmonary
evaluations for an abnormal chest imaging or physiologic study. These patients may or
may not have respiratory symptoms.
4 R.J. Panos
Breathlessness
Dyspnea is a subjective sensation of abnormal, awkward, or uncomfortable breathing
that integrates the subjective perception of breathing (4). Terms used by patients to
describe dyspnea include breathlessness, heavy breathing, suffocation, chest tightness,
air hunger, and choking. Self-limited, expected breathlessness occurs normally. After
strenuous exertion most individuals experience mild shortness of breath that is subse-
quently relieved with rest. In an individual patient, it may be difficult to discern expected
from unanticipated breathlessness. Severity of breathlessness may be difficult to assess
as the perception of breathlessness may vary between individuals and over time in a
single individual.
The chronicity and onset of breathlessness are important variables in discerning
the etiology of dyspnea. Breathlessness that occurs with sudden onset is often due to
infections, pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax, or bronchospasm. Breathlessness that
develops slowly over time is most often associated with progressive pulmonary pro-
cesses such as interstitial lung disease, pulmonary vascular disease, or obstructive lung
disease. Provocative factors such as plants, pets, or odors may suggest bronchospasm
or asthma.
Causes of breathlessness include many non-pulmonary processes including cardiac,
metabolic, and hematologic disorders (5). In two-thirds of 85 patients who presented to
a pulmonary subspecialty clinic, breathlessness was due to asthma, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, or cardiomyopathy (6). Interestingly, the clinical impression based
on the history, physical examination, and chest X-ray was accurate in 81% of patients
when the cause of dyspnea was one of these processes but decreased to 33% for less
common causes.
Cough is a protective reflex that eliminates secretions and foreign materials from
the airways. The cough reflex is initiated by irritant receptors throughout the airways
and extra pulmonary sites including the pleura, pericardium, auditory canals, perinasal
sinuses, stomach, and diaphragm. These sensory neurons are triggered by inflammatory,
mechanical, chemical, and thermal stimuli; the central nervous system cough center is
activated; and motor neurons initiate a forceful exhalation.
The presence of a cough for less than 3 weeks suggests an acute process whereas a
longer duration defines a chronic cough. Acute cough is more frequently due to infec-
tions but occasionally cardiac disease, pulmonary edema, or pulmonary embolism may
be the cause. Common etiologies of chronic cough include smoking-related lung dis-
ease, postnasal drainage, asthma, and gastroesophageal reflux. Algorithms for the eval-
uation and management of patients with chronic cough have been established (7).
The etiology of cough can also be determined by the characteristics of the cough
especially whether it is productive or dry and hacking in nature. Productive coughs most
frequently suggest an infectious etiology. Hemoptysis may be associated with a bleed-
ing diathesis or anatomic pulmonary abnormality that causes disruption of the normal
pulmonary vasculature or mucosa, such as neoplasm, vasculitis, or tissue-destroying
infection.
Chest Discomfort
Chest discomfort may originate anywhere in the thorax other than within the lung
parenchyma which does not contain pain fibers. Potential origins of chest discom-
fort include the visceral and parietal pleura, diaphragm, chest wall, muscles, skin, and
1 A Clinical Approach to Rare Lung Diseases 5
other thoracic structures especially the heart, pericardium, and mediastinum. Noncar-
diac chest pain is infrequently diagnostic but may help to localize an anatomic abnor-
mality that may be visualized with chest imaging.
Respiratory Sounds or Noises
Sounds that may be heard by patients without a stethoscope include snoring, wheez-
ing, and stridor. Snoring is usually a coarse low-pitched sound that occurs during sleep
and is strongly suggestive of obstructive sleep apnea or diminished upper airway air-
flow during sleep. Wheezing is a high-pitched musical sound that is more frequently
heard during expiration than inspiration. It usually indicates obstructive airway disease
including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Localized wheezes sug-
gest endobronchial obstruction. Stridor is a loud, harsh sound that may occur either dur-
ing inspiration or expiration. Inspiratory stridor suggests an extrathoracic cause whereas
expiratory stridor suggests an intrathoracic etiology. Obstruction of airflow due to intra-
bronchial lesions, edema of the upper airway, or dynamic airway collapse may cause
stridor.
Medical History
The past medical history is an important source of information about systemic processes
that may also involve the lung. Associated previous or concurrent systemic medical
conditions may also help formulate the differential diagnosis. Some processes intermit-
tently involve different systems or are in evolution and require serial observation.
Family/Social History
The family history and social history may elicit genetic factors or other triggers that
might cause the development of lung disease. The family history is an important
source of information about familial processes that may affect the lungs. These dis-
eases include cystic fibrosis, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, hereditary telangiectasia,
pulmonary fibrosis, and surfactant protein mutations (discussed in detail in Chapters
6, 7, 9, 11, and 16).
Occupational/Environmental History
Particular emphasis should be placed on the patient’s occupational and environmental
exposures and, occasionally, the spouse’s occupational history (8). Obtaining a chrono-
logic listing of all positions held by a patient generates a comprehensive employment
resume. The occupational history elicits not just the job title but the actual duties and
tasks as well as a comprehensive list of all vapors, gases, dust, or fumes in the work
environment. Occasionally a spouse may be exposed to particles such as asbestos fibers
that are transported from the job place to the home on the partner’s work clothes. The
home environment including pets, mold, mildew, down bedding or chemical, fumes, or
dusts generated while performing hobbies may also be the source of exposures that may
induce various pulmonary disorders.
6 R.J. Panos
Review of Systems
A comprehensive systemic review is also extremely useful in complex lung diseases
because it may identify associated manifestations that may not be recognized by either
the patient or referring physicians. It is often these associated non-pulmonary signs or
symptoms that provide the essential clue to the diagnosis of a rare or unusual pulmonary
disease. The development of comprehensive differential diagnoses of lung processes
based on the presence or absence of associated symptoms is reviewed in the latter por-
tion of this chapter (Tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, and 1.11).
Physical Examination
A thorough physical examination complements the comprehensive history. The exam-
ination of patients with respiratory symptoms usually focuses on the chest findings
but a comprehensive physical examination is important to determine the presence of a
systemic process. The physical examination begins with the vital signs which should
include the respiratory rate and oxygen saturation. The four principal parts of the chest
examination are inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation.
Inspection
Respiratory pattern and rate are assessed initially. Respiratory distress can be identi-
fied through the use of accessory muscles, body position during breathing, and use
of intercostal muscles. Abnormal respiratory patterns include tachypnea (rapid shallow
breathing), hyperpnea (rapid deep breathing), bradypnea (slow breathing), and Cheyne–
Stokes respirations (rhythmic breaths in a crescendo–decrescendo pattern that may
include apneic episodes). Biot’s breathing (ataxic breathing) is an uncommon variant of
Cheyne–Stokes respirations in which apneic events are irregularly interspersed among
breaths of nonvarying depth and may be associated with meningitis. During inspection,
the shape and contour of the thorax is assessed for abnormalities of the thoracic wall
such as kyphosis, scoliosis, or pectus excavatum.
Palpation and Percussion
Excursion of the chest wall is determined by feeling the expansion of the chest dur-
ing inspiration. Asymmetry may suggest an abnormality of the underlying chest wall,
pleura, or lung. Palpation can also determine the presence of chest wall masses, lesions,
or other abnormalities such as a flail chest. Pneumothorax, pleural effusion, or medi-
astinal mass may cause lateral deviation of the trachea. Vibratory palpation or tactile
fremitus is increased with pulmonary consolidation due to pneumonia or atelectasis
but is reduced with pleural effusions or pneumothorax. Percussion is dulled by the
loss of aerated pulmonary parenchyma caused by pleural effusion, consolidation, or
atelectasis. Hyperresonance or tympany may occur with emphysema, large bullae, or
pneumothorax.
