The European respiratory journal : official journal of the European Society for Clinical Respiratory Physiology
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Review Practice Guideline
ERS/EACTS statement on the management of malignant pleural effusions.
Malignant pleural effusions (MPE) are a common pathology, treated by respiratory physicians and thoracic surgeons alike. In recent years, several well-designed randomised clinical trials have been published that have changed the landscape of MPE management. The European Respiratory Society (ERS) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) established a multidisciplinary collaboration of clinicians with expertise in the management of MPE with the aim of producing a comprehensive review of the scientific literature. ⋯ There was limited evidence regarding the management of trapped lung or loculated MPE. The LENT score was identified as a validated tool for predicting survival in MPE, with Brims' prognostic score demonstrating utility in mesothelioma prognostication. There was no evidence to support the use of oncological therapies as an alternative to MPE drainage, and the literature supported the use of tissue biopsy as the gold standard for diagnosis and treatment planning.
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International treatment guidelines for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) give a conditional recommendation for anti-acid therapy. As some observational studies reported discrepant findings on the effectiveness of anti-acid therapy on mortality in IPF, we reviewed all studies to evaluate whether immortal time bias explains these discrepancies. We searched the Embase and MEDLINE databases up to July 2017 for observational studies assessing the effectiveness of anti-acid therapy on mortality in IPF. ⋯ The five studies that avoided immortal time bias reported no effect of anti-acid therapy on mortality (pooled hazard ratio 0.99; 95% CI 0.81-1.22). The apparent beneficial effects of anti-acid therapy on mortality in patients with IPF result from observational studies affected by immortal time bias. Thus, the effectiveness of anti-acid therapy in IPF remains uncertain and needs to be reassessed with more accurate observational study methods and randomised trials.
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The lungs and heart are irrevocably linked in their oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) transport functions. Functional impairment of the lungs often affects heart function and vice versa The steepness with which ventilation (V'E) rises with respect to CO2 production (V'CO2 ) (i.e. the V'E/V'CO2 slope) is a measure of ventilatory efficiency and can be used to identify an abnormal ventilatory response to exercise. ⋯ An altered PaCO2 set-point and chemosensitivity are present in many cardiopulmonary diseases, which influence V'E/V'CO2 by affecting PaCO2 Increased ventilation-perfusion heterogeneity, causing inefficient gas exchange, also contributes to the abnormal V'E/V'CO2 observed in cardiopulmonary diseases by increasing VD/VT During cardiopulmonary exercise testing, the PaCO2 during exercise is often not measured and VD/VT is only estimated by taking into account the end-tidal CO2 partial pressure (PETCO2 ); however, PaCO2 is not accurately estimated from PETCO2 in patients with cardiopulmonary disease. Measuring arterial gases (PaO2 and PaCO2 ) before and during exercise provides information on the real (and not "estimated") VD/VT coupled with a true measure of gas exchange efficiency such as the difference between alveolar and arterial O2 partial pressure and the difference between arterial and end-tidal CO2 partial pressure during exercise.
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What is the experience of people living with breathlessness due to medical conditions, those caring for them and those treating them, with regard to quality of life and the nature of clinical interactions?Electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Plus and PsycINFO) were searched (January 1987 to October 2017; English language), for qualitative studies exploring the experience of chronic breathlessness (patients, carers and clinicians). Two independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts and papers retrieved against inclusion criteria. Disagreements were resolved with a third reviewer. ⋯ The themes were combined to form the concept of "breathing space", to show how engaged coping and appropriate help-seeking (patient) and attention to symptom (clinician) helps maximise the patient's quality of living with breathlessness. Breathlessness has widespread impact on both patient and carer and affects breathing space. The degree of breathing space is influenced by interaction between the patient's coping style, their help-seeking behaviour and their clinician's responsiveness to breathlessness itself, in addition to managing the underlying disease.
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Exercise ventilation (V'E) relative to carbon dioxide output (V'CO2 ) is particularly relevant to patients limited by the respiratory system, e.g. those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). High V'E-V'CO2 (poor ventilatory efficiency) has been found to be a key physiological abnormality in symptomatic patients with largely preserved forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1). Establishing an association between high V'E-V'CO2 and exertional dyspnoea in mild COPD provides evidence that exercise intolerance is not a mere consequence of detraining. ⋯ Moreover, a high V'E-V'CO2 has added value to resting lung hyperinflation in predicting all-cause and respiratory mortality across the spectrum of COPD severity. Documenting improved ventilatory efficiency after lung transplantation and lung volume reduction surgery provides objective evidence of treatment efficacy. Considering the usefulness of exercise ventilatory efficiency in different clinical scenarios, the V'E-V'CO2 relationship should be valued in the interpretation of cardiopulmonary exercise tests in patients with mild-to-end-stage COPD.