Chest
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Five-year cohort study: emphysematous progression of indium-exposed workers.
Dose-dependent adverse lung effects due to indium exposure have been reported in a cross-sectional study. This is a 5-year longitudinal cohort study of indium-exposed and unexposed workers, assessing indium exposure levels and its clinical lung effects. ⋯ Long-term adverse effects on emphysematous changes were observed. The results suggest workers exposed to indium with In-S levels > 20 μg/L should be immediately removed from exposure.
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The appropriate justification for using a diagnostic or therapeutic intervention is that it provides benefit to patients, society, or both. For decades, indwelling arterial catheters have been used very commonly in patients in the ICU, despite a complete absence of data addressing whether they confer any such benefits. Both of the main uses of arterial catheters, BP monitoring and blood sampling for laboratory testing, can be done without these invasive devices. ⋯ Given the potential dangers, widespread use, and uncertainty about consequences of arterial catheter use in ICUs, equipoise exists and randomized trials are needed. Multiple studies in different, well-characterized, patient subgroups are needed to clarify whether arterial catheters influence outcomes. These studies should assess the range of relevant outcomes, including mortality, medical resource use, patient comfort, complications, and costs.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Effect of oxygen and acetazolamide on nocturnal cardiac conduction, repolarization and arrhythmias in pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension and sleep-disturbed breathing.
Sleep-disturbed breathing (SDB) is common in patients with precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH). Nocturnal oxygen therapy (NOT) and acetazolamide improve SDB in patients with PH, and NOT improves exercise capacity. We investigated the effect of NOT and acetazolamide on nocturnal cardiac conduction, repolarization, and arrhythmias in patients with PH and SDB. ⋯ In patients with PH with SDB, NOT reduces nocturnal heart rate and QTc in the morning, thus, favorably modifying prognostic markers.
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The recently released third edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD) is a fully revised version of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's manual of sleep disorders nosology, published in cooperation with international sleep societies. It is the key reference work for the diagnosis of sleep disorders. ⋯ Major features and changes of the manual are reviewed in this article. The rationales for these changes are also discussed.
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Excessive erythrocytosis (EE) is a prevalent condition in populations living at high altitudes (> 2,500 m above sea level). Few large population-based studies have explored the association between EE and multiple subject-specific traits including oxygen saturation, iron status indicators, and pulmonary function. ⋯ We found a lower prevalence of EE than in previous reports in the Peruvian Andes. Although the presence of hypoxemia and decreased vital capacity were strongly associated with excessive erythrocytosis, being overweight or having metabolic syndrome were associated with an important fraction of cases in our study population.