Chest
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Review Meta Analysis
Is Quadriceps Endurance Reduced in COPD?: A Systematic Review.
Although the aerobic profile of the quadriceps muscle is reduced in COPD, there is conflicting evidence regarding whether this leads to reduced quadriceps muscle endurance. We, therefore, performed a systematic review of studies comparing quadriceps endurance in individuals with COPD with that in healthy control subjects. ⋯ Quadriceps endurance is reduced in individuals with COPD compared with healthy control subjects, independent of the type of task performed.
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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.