Chest
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Comparative Study
Differences in COPD exacerbation risk between women and men: analysis from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink data.
Historically, COPD has been considered to affect mostly older men with a history of smoking; however, in recent times, its prevalence and mortality rates have steadily increased among women. ⋯ These results highlight the unmet need for appropriate identification and management of women with COPD in clinical practice.
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Point-of-care ultrasonography is a key skill for the critical care clinician and is gaining widespread acceptance by clinicians in all areas of medicine. In addition to mastery of image acquisition, image interpretation, and clinical application, intensivists need to be adept with billing for their scanning activity. This article summarizes the requirements for documentation and image storage that must be met to obtain reimbursement for point-of-care ultrasonography services.
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Comparative Study
The St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire Definition of Chronic Bronchitis May Be a Better Predictor of COPD Exacerbations Compared With the Classic Definition.
Chronic bronchitis (CB) increases risk of COPD exacerbations. We have shown that the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) CB definition identifies patients with a similar clinical phenotype as classically defined CB. Whether the SGRQ CB definition is a predictor of future COPD exacerbations is unknown. ⋯ The SGRQ CB definition identified more subjects at risk for future exacerbations than the classic CB definition. SGRQ CB was at least a similar if not better predictor of future exacerbations than classic CB.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Association of Angiotensin Modulators With the Course of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
Angiotensin peptides have been implicated in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) pathogenesis. Angiotensin modulators are used to treat arterial hypertension, a frequent comorbidity of IPF. This post hoc analysis evaluated associations of antihypertensive treatments with disease-related outcomes in IPF. ⋯ Prospective clinical trials are needed to evaluate whether angiotensin modulators may be beneficial to clinical outcomes in IPF.
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Since the first description of mechanical ventilation, our understanding of the positive and negative effects of this form of life support has continued to evolve. To maintain "normal" aeration of the lungs and "normal" blood gas measurements, patients often require much higher airway pressures and tidal volumes than would be expected in a healthy, spontaneously breathing adult. In the early days of mechanical ventilation, the goal was to normalize the blood gas levels, but over the last several decades, we have developed a much better appreciation for the deleterious effects of mechanical ventilation. ⋯ This scenario is best described and agreed upon in the setting of ARDS, but a growing body of evidence suggests that the use of higher tidal volumes is harmful in patients with normal lungs undergoing general anesthesia or in patients with lung diseases other than ARDS requiring mechanical ventilation. Finally, the concept of self-induced lung injury has emerged as a mechanism through which patients generating large negative intrathoracic pressures to achieve larger tidal volumes can contribute to worsened lung injury. Given a growing supportive evidence base, we suggest that efforts be made to achieve low tidal volume ventilation in all patients with lung injury or undergoing mechanical ventilation for any reason.