The authors analyze the nutritional status of patients with lung cancer. 131 patients, 96 (73.3%) male and 35 (26.7%) female, were classified into three groups: I - malnourished patients; II - eutrophic patients and III - obese patients. Most of the malnourished had anorexia (59.7%), which was not seen in the eutrophic (25%) and obese patients (26.1%). More than 70% of patients reported some degree of previous weight loss at the initial evaluation, weight loss being higher among malnourished patients. Weight loss was observed in more than 60% of the patients during the follow-up period of 3 months after the first evaluation. Patients with squamous carcinoma neoplasms prevailed in the malnourished group whereas adenocarcinoma was more prevalent in the other two groups. Most patients had advanced stages of the disease.

Keywords: Lung cancer. Nutritional status.

The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey to estimate the prevalence of tuberculosis infection in employees at the Uberlândia University Hospital, Minas Gerais. The participants (167) were classified according to exposure to tuberculosis into three groups: A) clinical medicine ward, frequent; B) admission unit, limited; and C) administration area, none, and underwent a two-step tuberculin testing. Factors associated with positive results were: level of exposure (44.70%; OR, 1.45; IC, 1.13-2.15; p = 0.013), age over 40 years (52.60%; OR, 1.66; IC, 1.20-2.30; p = 0.004) and employed for more than 10 years (59.30%; OR, 1.63; IC, 1.13-2.22; p = 0.011). Among clinical personnel at the Uberlândia University Hospital the prevalence of significant tuberculin reaction was high.

Keywords: Tuberculosis. Tuberculin skin test. Health care personnel.

The mediastinum, made up by many organs and structures, comprises a wide range of affections, from simple cysts to low differentiated neoplasias and lymphomas. In their day-to-day activities, the diagnosis of these affections represent a real challenge to the pathologists. Furthermore, one of the main approaches to diagnosis includes mediastinoscopy. Therefore, the representation of the specimen for studies, as well as some artifacts to obtain the specimen, may pose some difficulty for a final diagnosis. This article will focus mainly on the problems faced to diagnose entities from the specimens obtained by mediatinoscopy in the surgical room, during the extraction of the material and at examination by freezing. The article will also update current criteria used to classify the tumors and the use of the immunohistochemistry to complement the diagnosis, criteria of invasion, and metastases. The purposes of this article are: recognize the main affections of the mediastinum, classify the main tumors, apply malignancy criteria, identify prognostic markers, and evaluate when there is need to establish a clinical, radiological and morphological correlation.

Keywords: Mediastinum. Mediastinum pathology. Prognostic markers.

The authors report a case of bronchoesophageal fistula found unsuspectedly in bronchoscopy. The radiological findings were compatible and etiologic confirmation was established by histopathological studies.

Keywords: Bronchoesophageal fistula. AIDS.

Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a disease of rare, unclear etiology, leading to elevations in pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance. The vascular lesions range from mild - consisting of neo-intimal proliferation - to severe - characterized by concentric intimal fibrosis, plexiform lesions, and necrotizing arteritis. There have been since 1987 reports describing the association between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and PPH, with as many as 60 patients in 1997. The role of HIV in the pathogenesis remains unclear. It is reported a case of a woman in whom this association was observed.

Keywords: Primary pulmonary hypertension. Human immunodeficiency virus.

The authors report the case of an adolescent with bilateral interstitial bronchopneumonia caused by measles. They discuss this rare presentation and the usefulness of thorax CT scan for the diagnosis of this disease.

Keywords: Measles. Pneumonia. CT scan.

The authors report a rare case of internal thoracic artery lesion caused by a chest tube in a patient under open drainage system treatment for empyema. The vessel rupture, leading the patient to hypovolemic shock and massive hemoptysis, was the indication for surgical intervention. They also emphasize the care with a thoracic drainage and the need for radiologic control.

Keywords: Thoracostomy. Internal thoracic artery. Chest tube.