We present the current optimal uses and limitations of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) as it relates to the diagnosis and staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PET/CT demonstrates increased accuracy in the workup of solitary pulmonary nodules for malignancy compared with CT alone, and we discuss its benefits and limitations. We review pitfalls in measured standardized uptake values of lung lesions caused by respiratory artifacts, the lower sensitivity for detection of small lung nodules on non-breath-hold CT, and the benefits of obtaining an additional diagnostic CT for the maximum sensitivity of lung nodule detection. There are limitations of quantitatively comparing separate PET/CT examinations from different facilities with standardized uptake values. ...

The American College of Physicians (ACP), American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), American Thoracic Society (ATS), and European Respiratory Society (ERS) have released a joint clinical practice guideline on diagnosing and treating stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Annals of Internal Medicine, ACP's flagship journal. ACP convened the four organizations, which represent more than 170,000 physicians from around the world, to develop the joint guideline... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

A new national collaboration of asthma genetics researchers has revealed a novel gene associated with the disease in African-Americans, according to a new scientific report. By pooling data from nine independent research groups looking for genes associated with asthma, the newly-created EVE Consortium identified a novel gene association specific to populations of African descent. In addition, the new study confirmed the significance of four gene associations recently reported by a European asthma genetics study... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Conclusions:  With a wide assortment of possible clinical predictors, we could explain 14–20% of the variation in blood gas measurements in COPD patients.Please cite this paper as: Saure EW, Eagan TML, Jensen RL, Voll‐Aanerud M, Aukrust P, Bakke PS and Hardie JA. Explained variance for blood gases in a population with COPD. Clin Respir J 2011; DOI:10.1111/j.1752‐699X.2011.00248.x. (Source: The Clinical Respiratory Journal)