Chest
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Multicenter Study
Children with chronic cough: when is watchful waiting appropriate? Development of likelihood ratios for assessing children with chronic cough.
Chronic cough is associated with poor quality of life and may signify a serious underlying disease. Differentiating nonspecific cough (when watchful waiting can be safely undertaken) from specific cough (treatment and further investigations are beneficial) would be clinically useful. In 326 children, we aimed to (1) determine how well cough pointers (used in guidelines) differentiate specific from nonspecific cough and (2) describe the clinical profile of children whose cough resolved without medications (spontaneous resolution). ⋯ Children with chronic dry cough without any cough pointers can be safely managed using the watchful waiting approach. The high pretest probability and high positive LRs of cough pointers support the use of individual cough pointers to identify high risk of specific cough in pediatric chronic cough guidelines.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Long-Term Survival in Patients with Acute Lung Injury (ALI)/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) versus Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema (CPE).
Early differential diagnosis of acute lung injury (ALI) vs cardiogenic pulmonary edema (CPE) is important for selecting the most appropriate therapy, but the prognostic implications of this distinction have not been studied. Accurate prognostic information is essential for providing appropriate informed consent prior to initiation of mechanical ventilation. ⋯ Although hospital mortality is higher in patients with ALI/ARDS compared with patients with CPE, long-term survival is similar in hospital survivors from both groups.
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Platelets are believed to be critical in pulmonary-origin ARDS as mediators of endothelial damage through their interactions with fibrinogen and multiple signal transduction pathways. A prior meta-analysis identified five loci for platelet count (PLT): BAD, LRRC16A, CD36, JMJD1C, and SLMO2. This study aims to validate the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) of PLT within BAD, LRRC16A, CD36, JMJD1C, and SLMO2 among critically ill patients and to investigate the associations of these QTLs with ARDS risk that may be mediated through PLT. ⋯ Our findings support the role of LRRC16A in platelet formation and suggest the importance of LRRC16A in ARDS pathophysiology by interacting with, and being mediated through, platelets.
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Recent work has demonstrated that mechanical forces occurring in the airway as a consequence of bronchoconstriction are sufficient to not only induce symptoms but also influence airway biology. Animal and human in vitro and in vivo work demonstrates that the airways are structurally and functionally altered by mechanical stress induced by bronchoconstriction. ⋯ We review these findings in detail and discuss previous studies in light of this new evidence regarding the influence of mechanical forces in the airways. Furthermore, we highlight potential impacts of therapies influencing mechanical forces on airway structure and function in asthma.
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A 62-year-old man developed a scalp rash 2 months ago, followed by bilateral eyelid swelling. The nonpruritic rash then spread to involve most of his skin. ⋯ He had no other symptoms. He had a 50 pack-year history of smoking and drank two to three shots of alcohol daily.