Chest
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High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy reduces the effort of breathing in patients with bronchiolitis, but the mechanisms are not understood. Theorized mechanisms include dead space washout and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) application. ⋯ Increasing HFNC in children with bronchiolitis reduces the effort of breathing, but no consistent increase occurs in end-expiratory lung volume and no significant change occurs in VT or transpulmonary pressure. This suggests that PEEP application is not the primary mechanism of action of HFNC in children with bronchiolitis.
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Improved methods are needed to risk-stratify patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and reduced FEV1. ⋯ Among individuals with CF and FEV1 ≤ 50% predicted, FEV1 percent predicted, oxygen therapy, and number of pulmonary exacerbations predicted 2-year death or LTx. Although limited by small sample size, only FEV1 remained predictive in patients receiving highly effective modulator therapy. Additional physiologic variables could improve prognostication in CF.
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Asthma exacerbations can be life-threatening, with 25,000 to 50,000 such patients per year requiring admission to an ICU in the United States. Appropriate triage of life-threatening asthma is dependent on both static assessment of airway function and dynamic assessment of response to therapy. Treatment strategies focus on achieving effective bronchodilation with inhaled β2-agonists, muscarinic antagonists, and magnesium sulphate while reducing inflammation with systemic corticosteroids. ⋯ However, mechanical ventilation in these patients often requires controlled hypoventilation, adequate sedation, and occasional use of muscle relaxation to avoid dynamic hyperinflation, which can result in barotrauma or volutrauma. Sedation with ketamine or propofol is preferred because of their potential bronchodilation properties. In this review, we outline strategies for the assessment and management of patients with acute life-threatening asthma focusing on those requiring admission to the ICU.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Smartphone-guided Self-prone Positioning versus Usual Care in Non-Intubated Hospital Ward Patients with COVID-19: A Pragmatic Randomized Clinical Trial.
Safe, effective, and easily implementable treatments that reduce the progression of respiratory failure in COVID-19 are urgently needed. Despite the increased adoption of prone positioning during the pandemic, the effectiveness of this technique on progression of respiratory failure among nonintubated patients is unclear. ⋯ gov.
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Several countries mandate informed or shared decision-making for low-dose CT (LDCT) lung cancer screening, but knowledge is limited about the type of information and presentation techniques used to support decision-making in practice. This review aimed to characterize the content, format, mode, and presentation methods of decision support tools (DSTs) for LDCT lung cancer screening. DSTs reported within peer-reviewed articles (January 2000-April 2021) were identified systematically from PubMed, PsycInfo, EMBASE, and CINAHL Plus. ⋯ None described all the potential screening harms and results. The heterogeneity in DST design may affect the quality of decision-making, particularly for participants with lower literacy and numeracy. Evidence-based consensus guidelines for DST content and presentation methods should be developed collaboratively with screening-eligible adults.