Chest
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ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Midrange-proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM) has been shown to be elevated in patients hospitalized for an acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) and in patients with community acquired pneumonia. MR-proADM when measured during AECOPD has also been shown to be a predictor for mortality, we hypothesized that MR-proADM levels measured in a stable state could also predict mortality. METHODS We included 181 patients in whom we had paired plasma samples for MR-proADM determinations during stable state and at hospitalization for AECOPD when they also produced sputum. ⋯ The corrected Odds Ratio for one year mortality was 8.90 (95% CI 1.94 - 44.6) in patients with high MR-proADM levels measured in stable state, compared to patients with low levels. CONCLUSIONS MR-proADM measured in stable state showed to be a strong predictor for mortality in COPD patients. MR-proADM is far more convenient to measure than other predictors for mortality in COPD such as the BODE score.
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Comparative Study
A New Method to Detect Air Leakage in a Patient With Pneumothorax Using Saline Solution and Multidetector-Row Spiral CT Scan.
The purpose of this study was to establish a new CT scan method to show signs of air leakage and to detect the point of the lung leak in patients with spontaneous pneumothorax by using saline solution and phonation. ⋯ With a saline injection and vocalization, CT scan could demonstrate air-leak signs in patients with spontaneous pneumothorax. This method does not require contrast medium, special instruments, or high skill and, thus, is a novel and useful examination to detect the culprit lesion in pneumothorax.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Longitudinal trends in health-related quality of life in adults with cystic fibrosis.
Health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) measures have been used as patient-reported outcomes in clinical trials in cystic fibrosis (CF), but there are limited data on HRQOL changes over time in adults with CF. ⋯ In a longitudinal multicenter population of adults with CF, clinical variables such as FEV1, exacerbation frequency, and weight were correlated with related CFQ-R subscales. For the population as a whole, the physical domains of CFQ-R, such as respiratory symptoms, were stable. In contrast, population changes in several psychosocial domains of CFQ-R suggest that differentiating between the physical and the psychosocial trajectories in health among adults with CF is critical in evaluating patient-reported outcomes.