Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae is usually mild,
but some cases develop a severe life-threatening pneumonia. To investigate the clinical …

BACKGROUND: Inhaled steroids such as fluticasone propionate and beclomethasone
dipropionate play a central role in the treatment of bronchial asthma. Fluticasone exhibits …

The usefulness of the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the QuantiFERON TB-2G (QFT-TB) test
were compared in immunocompromised patients. The subjects consisted of 252 …

Objective To evaluate the response to the QuantiFERON-TB-2 Gold (QFT-2G) test (Cellestis
Ltd; Carnegie, VIC, Australia) in elderly patients with active tuberculosis (TB) to determine …

Background: The usefulness of sputum Gram stain and culture in guiding microbiological
diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is controversial. We evaluated the role of …

Introduction . We reevaluated the usefulness of a whole-blood interferon-γ enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (QuantiFERON TB-2G [QFT-TB]; Cellestis) in obtaining a differential …

Background Acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are major causes of
morbidity and mortality among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. However, acute …

Background: Cigarette smoking induces neutrophilic airway inflammation and relative
resistance to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). Objective: We evaluated the influence of cigarette …

The present authors assessed risk factors that can promote indeterminate results of
QuantiFERON TB-2G (QFT-2G; Cellestis Ltd, Carnegie, Australia) tests. The subjects were 704 …

Objective Although high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is useful for the characterization
of minute morphological changes in the lungs, no study has investigated risk factors …