Chest
-
Comparative Study
Identifying an Inciting Antigen is Associated with Improved Survival in Patients with Chronic Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis.
The cornerstone of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) management is having patients avoid the inciting antigen (IA). Often, despite an exhaustive search, an IA cannot be found. The objective of this study was to examine whether identifying the IA impacts survival in patients with chronic HP. ⋯ Among patients with chronic HP, when adjusting for a number of potentially influential predictors, including the presence of fibrosis, the inability to identify an IA was independently associated with shortened survival.
-
Comparative Study
β-trace protein and prognosis in anticoagulated patients with atrial fibrillation.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with a high risk of mortality and morbidity and it commonly coexists with chronic kidney disease. A biomarker of renal function, β-trace protein (BTP), has been implicated in the progression of cardiovascular disease. The aim of our study was to evaluate the association of BTP with adverse cardiovascular events, bleeding, and mortality in patients with AF. ⋯ We suggest that BTP, a proposed renal damage biomarker, may be a novel predictor of adverse cardiovascular events, major bleeding, and mortality in patients with AF. BTP may help refine clinical risk stratification in these patients.