Pleural covering as an alternative treatment for recurrent pneumothorax

Most BHD patients develop pulmonary cysts and although only 30-35% will suffer a pneumothorax the recurrence rate is very high (Toro et al., 2008). The standard treatment for recurrent pneumothorax is pleurodesis, sometimes accompanied with pleurectomy, which attaches the lung surface to the chest wall thereby reducing the risk of further air leaks. An alternative … Read more

Energy, Superglue and Dominoes: A summary of the Sixth BHD Symposium Patient and Family session

On Saturday 26th September the Sixth BHD and First International Upstate Kidney Cancer Symposium ended with a patient and family session. The session was chaired by Lindsay Middelton, a genetic counsellor from the NCI, and featured presentations and Q&A sessions with several clinical experts. Dr Jorge Toro, a dermatologist at the Washington DC VA Medical … Read more

A role for FLCN in modulating resistance to hyperosmotic stress

Water efflux in response to hyperosmotic stress causes cells to shrink, protein and DNA damage, cell cycle arrest and death. Cells must therefore adapt to changes in external osmolality; one conserved mechanism is to rapidly increase intracellular osmolytes to maintain osmotic homeostasis. New research from Possik et al., (2015) has identified a role for FLCN-1, … Read more

Summary of the Sixth BHD and First International Upstate Kidney Cancer Symposium

Last week more than 100 BHD researchers, clinicians and patients attended the Sixth BHD Symposium and First International Upstate Kidney Cancer Symposium in Syracuse, New York. The Symposium was expertly organised and run by Professor Gennady Bratslavsky, Dr Mehdi Mollapour and their team at SUNY Upstate Medical University. The packed programme featured presentations from several renowned … Read more