Chest
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effect of Isoniazid Therapy for Latent Tuberculosis Infection on QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-tube Responses in Tuberculin Skin Test Positive Adults in a High Tuberculosis Incidence Area: A Controlled Study.
T-cell interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) are used in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and could be useful biomarkers of response to treatment of latent TB infection for clinical trials, infection control units, and TB programs. ⋯ IPT had no effect on changes in QFT-GIT readouts during short-term follow-up of adults with positive tuberculin skin tests in a high TB incidence setting. QFT-GIT is unlikely to be a useful biomarker of response to treatment of latent TB infection.
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Multicenter Study
Automated Computed Tomography Scores of Bronchiectasis and Air Trapping in Cystic Fibrosis.
Computer analysis of high-resolution CT (HRCT) scans may improve the assessment of structural lung injury in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). The goal of this cross-sectional pilot study was to validate automated, observer-independent image analysis software to establish objective, simple criteria for bronchiectasis and air trapping. ⋯ Quantitative airway counts and LAD (%) on HRCT scans appear to be useful surrogates for bronchiectasis and air trapping in children with CF. Our automated methodology provides objective quantitative measures of bronchiectasis and air trapping that may serve as end points in CF clinical trials.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Neurobehavioral Functioning and Survival Following Lung Transplantation.
Neurobehavioral functioning is widely recognized as being an important consideration in lung transplant candidates, but little is known about whether these factors are related to clinical outcomes. The present study examined the relationship of neurobehavioral functioning, including measures of executive function and memory, depression, and anxiety, to long-term survival among lung transplant recipients. ⋯ Neurobehavioral functioning, including persistently elevated depressive symptoms and lower neurocognitive performance, was associated with reduced survival after lung transplantation.
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Clinical practice guidelines recommend enteral over parenteral nutrition in critical illness and do not recommend early initiation. Few data are available on parenteral nutrition use or timing of initiation in the ICU or how this use may have changed over time. ⋯ Use of parenteral nutrition in US ICUs declined from 2001 through 2008 in all patients and in all examined subgroups, with the majority of parenteral nutrition initiated within the first 7 days in ICU; enteral nutrition use coincidently increased over the same time period.
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Few studies have evaluated both the overall effect of ICU telemedicine programs and the effect of individual components of the intervention on clinical outcomes. ⋯ ICU telemedicine interventions, specifically interventions that increase early intensivist case involvement, improve adherence to ICU best practices, reduce response times to alarms, and encourage the use of performance data, were associated with lower mortality and LOS.