Chest
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Race/Ethnicity differences in the inpatient management of acute asthma in the United States.
The only published US study on racial/ethnic disparities in inpatient asthma management was performed in 1989-1990 at a single center. The authors reported that black and Hispanic children were provided substandard care at hospital discharge compared to white children. The purpose of the present analysis was to reexamine this important issue in a large multicenter study. ⋯ We did not identify racial/ethnic disparities in the inpatient treatment and outcomes for children or adults with acute asthma. At hospital discharge, Hispanic children were less likely to receive an asthma action plan compared to white or black children, possibly due to language or socioeconomic differences.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Impact of preoperative chemotherapy on pulmonary function tests in resectable early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.
Several chemotherapy agents, including gemcitabine and paclitaxel, have been reported to cause interstitial pneumonitis. The incidence of pulmonary toxicity from the combination of gemcitabine and paclitaxel is reported to be approximately 5%. In this report, pulmonary function test (PFT) results were analyzed from two similar randomized phase 2 trials that tested platinum and nonplatinum regimens preoperatively in patients with stage I or II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ⋯ In the preoperative setting, gemcitabine-based chemotherapy was well tolerated. The most commonly affected PFT parameter postchemotherapy was the Dlco. Although 15% of patients had a significant reduction in the Dlco postchemotherapy, it did not correlate with clinical symptoms or affect the ability to undergo surgical resection.