Chest
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Review Meta Analysis
Adding a LAMA to ICS/LABA therapy: a meta-analysis of triple therapy in COPD.
Inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) combination is commonly prescribed to treat COPD; therefore, we performed a meta-analysis on the effect of adding a long-acting muscarinic receptor antagonist (LAMA) to ICS/LABA combination in COPD. ⋯ Triple therapy provides significant clinical benefit in patients with COPD on ICS/LABA combination. ICS/LABA therapy can be escalated to triple therapy without a real risk to increase cardiovascular SAEs when a LAMA is added to the combination.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Efficacy of Pirfenidone in the Context of Multiple Disease Progression Events in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
Declines in percent predicted FVC (% predicted FVC), declines in 6-min walk distance (6MWD), and respiratory hospitalizations are events associated with disease progression and mortality in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The incidence of multiple events in the same patient over 12 months of pirfenidone treatment is unknown. ⋯ Pirfenidone significantly reduced the incidence of multiple progression events and death after a progression event over 12 months of treatment compared with placebo. These findings suggest that continued treatment with pirfenidone confers a benefit despite the occurrence of any single disease progression event.
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Multicenter Study
Complications and outcomes of temporary transvenous pacing: an analysis of over 360,000 patients from the National Inpatient Sample.
The incidence of complications and the outcomes of temporary transvenous pacemaker (TTP) placement in the modern era are not well established. ⋯ TTP placement is generally safe with low pericardial complication rates. Clinicians should be mindful of infrequent but serious complications of TTP, and strategies to mitigate pericardial tamponade and other complications should be sought and implemented.
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There is limited knowledge on what proportions of patients with COPD receive ambulatory care from primary care physicians, pulmonologists, or other specialists. We evaluated the types and combinations of physicians who provide ambulatory care to patients with COPD. ⋯ Primary care physicians play a substantial role in caring for patients with COPD. But only one-half as many patients with COPD saw pulmonologists than cardiologists, suggesting that COPD may receive less specialty care compared with other chronic medical conditions. This information can help inform COPD care strategies to improve COPD care and minimize exacerbations and associated health-care costs. It also suggests a need for more research to provide guidance on when patients with COPD should be referred to pulmonologists.
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Observational Study
Effect of Combined β-Lactam / Macrolide Therapy on Mortality According to the Microbial Aetiology and Inflammatory Status of Patients with Community - Acquired Pneumonia.
Antibiotic combinations that include macrolides have shown lower mortality rates than β-lactams in monotherapy or combined with fluoroquinolones in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, this effect has not been studied according to the levels of C-reactive protein in CAP with identified microbial cause. In patients with CAP and known microbial cause we aimed to evaluate 30-day mortality of a β-lactam plus macrolide (BL + M) compared with a fluoroquinolone alone or with a β-lactam (FQ ± BL). ⋯ The combination of a β-lactam with a macrolide was associated with decreased mortality in patients with pneumococcal CAP and in patients with high systemic inflammatory response. When both factors occurred together, BL + M was protective for mortality in the multivariate analysis.