Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases
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Comparative Study
Lung ultrasonography may provide an indirect estimation of lung porosity and airspace geometry.
Echographic vertical artifacts (B-lines) in chest ultrasonography have often been associated with pathological patterns. A scientifically sound explanation of these artifacts has not yet been proposed. ⋯ Airspace geometry, frothy nature and porosity are the determinants of the different behavior of ultrasound interacting with the subpleural lung parenchyma. Chest ultrasound may thus be interpreted as an indirect 'estimator' of lung porosity.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major public health burden and profoundly affects individuals suffering from the disease. However, the majority of subjects with COPD are still undiagnosed. ⋯ COPD in the primary-care setting is as prevalent and underdiagnosed as reported recently for the BOLD study. The surprisingly low participation rate of GPs and patients indicates that prevention of COPD is not a health priority, and that awareness for COPD has to heightened before case-finding strategies will be successful.
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Published data concerning the utility of computed tomography (CT)-based lung volumes are limited to correlation with lung function. ⋯ The CT Vratio had significant correlations with patient-centered outcomes and multidimensional COPD severity indices.
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There are just a few epidemiological studies on sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in the elderly, and the results are inconsistent. ⋯ SDB was found to be common among elderly Koreans, and it was more prevalent and severe in male than in female subjects. Health consequences of SDB in the elderly need to be further explored.
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There are few reports about sleep disturbances in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Asian countries. ⋯ COPD patients with even mild-to-moderate airflow limitations had nocturnal desaturation and RDI-related impaired sleep quality without significant symptoms.