In poor and underdeveloped countries, including Brazil, pulmonologists have great difficulty in maintaining a level of service that keeps pace with advances in current knowledge, in keeping up to date with newly developed techniques, and in pursuing research. Due to the rising costs of scientific journal subscriptions, one of the main problems is lack of access to the scientific literature. The term "digital divide" refers to the gap between those who can and those who cannot effectively use new information technology and tools such as the Internet to communicate within and between countries. In this report, we call attention to some solutions to this situation. In particular, the SciELO Project, the CAPES Periodicals portal and the HINARI project, as well as several others, provide access at little or no cost. These options are explained in detail herein.

Keywords: Pulmonary Disease (Specialty), Internet. Bibliography. Resource Guides.

In the present report, we describe an unusual presentation of post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans accompanied by pulmonary hemosiderosis in a nine-year-old boy with persistent respiratory symptoms subsequent to an episode of acute bronchiolitis occurring at the age of seven months. After the episode, the persistent respiratory symptoms worsened significantly, and, by the age of seven, the patient began to have difficulty breathing after minimal exertion. Computed tomography of the chest presented findings consistent with bronchiolitis obliterans. Open lung biopsy revealed numerous hemosiderin-laden macrophages, as well as other findings consistent with bronchiolitis obliterans. Pulmonary hemosiderosis can occasionally be accompanied by bronchiolitis obliterans in children with severe sequelae after an episode of viral infection.

Keywords: Bronchoalveolar lavage; Bronchiolitis obliterans; Hemosiderosis; Case reports [Publication type]

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the clinical and pathological factors that can influence the prognosis of breast cancer patients with clinical symptoms of malignant pleural effusion. Methods: This was a clinical cohort study, in which we analyzed the medical charts of patients diagnosed with malignant pleural effusion between 2006 and 2010. By examining the charts, we identified the female patients with a history of breast cancer. For those patients, we collected pathology data related to the primary tumor and cytopathology data related to the pleural metastasis. Results: We evaluated 145 patients, 87 (60%) of whom had tested positive for malignant cells in the pleural fluid. Ductal histology was observed in 119 (82%). The triple-negative breast cancer phenotype was seen in 25 cases (17%). Those patients had the worst prognosis (with a sharp decline in the survival curve), and 20 of the 25 (80%) died during the follow-up period (through June of 2011). The mean survival after the identification of malignant pleural effusion was 6 months. Conclusions: In patients with triple-negative breast cancer who test positive for malignant cells in the pleural fluid, the prognosis is poor and survival is reduced.

Keywords: Pleural effusion, malignant/mortality; Breast neoplasms/mortality; Breast neoplasms/genetics.

Objective: To analyze the association between paracoccidioidomycosis (Pcm) and cancer in a series of 25 cases and to review the literature on this topic. Methods: A retrospective review of 25 cases diagnosed with Pcm and cancer, retrieved from a series of 808 consecutive adult patients diagnosed with Pcm based on tests conducted in the Mycology Laboratory of the Santa Casa Complexo Hospitalar, in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, between 1972 and 2007. The diagnosis of Pcm was confirmed by means of direct microscopic examination, histopathological examination or immunodiffusion test. All cancer cases were confirmed by histopathological or cytopathological examination. Results: Respiratory symptoms were the principal complaints of the patients evaluated. Pulmonary involvement predominated, followed by skin and lymph node involvement. The most prevalent tumor was bronchial carcinoma, in 15 patients, followed by other types of carcinoma, and 1 patient had Hodgkin's lymphoma. In 16 patients (64%), the site of the Pcm was the same as that of the tumor. In most cases, Pcm treatment consisted of the isolated administration of sulfanilamide, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, ketoconazole, itraconazole or amphotericin B. The most common treatment for cancer was surgery, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Of the 25 patients, 12 were cured of Pcm, and 4 died. In 9 patients, the final outcome was unknown. In the general population of the area under study, the prevalence of lung cancer was significantly higher in smokers with Pcm than in smokers without Pcm (p < 0.001). Conclusions: A diagnosis of Pcm appears to increase the risk of lung cancer.

Keywords: Paracoccidioides; Paracoccidioidomycosis; Neoplasms.

This is a prospective study of benign and malignant pleural effusions carried out to determine the diagnostic yield of standard cytopathology compared to findings of DNA ploidy obtained by flow cytometry. Twenty-six samples of pleural effusion obtained by thoracocentesis were analyzed by cytopathology and flow cytometry. Final diagnosis was confirmed in all instances by histopathology of pleural biopsies. Ten samples were excluded from the analysis due to technical reasons, and the remaining 16 were used in the study. There were 13 malignant and 3 benign pleural effusions. Cytopathology revealed 9 malignant effusions and 7 benign effusions (4 false negatives). Flow cytometry findings have shown euploid DNA content in all 3 benign effusions (positive predictive value and specificity of 100%) and in 8 malignant effusions (positive value and specificity of 100%) and in 8 malignant effusions (sensitivity of 38.4% and negative predictive value of 27.2%). Cytopathology showed specificity of 100%, sensitivity of 69.2%, and positive and negative predictive values of 100% and 42.8%, respectively. The authors concluded that in this study the low sensitivity and negative value of flow cytometry in comparison to conventional cytopathology have limited the usefulness of flow cytometry to the finding of euploid DNA contents in benign pleural effusions.

Keywords: Flow cytometry. Cytopathology. DNA ploidy. Pleural effusion.