Respiratory medicine
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Respiratory medicine · Dec 2013
ReviewMounier-Kuhn syndrome or congenital tracheobronchomegaly: a literature review.
Mounier-Kuhn syndrome or congenital tracheobronchomegaly is a chronic airway condition which for currently unknown reasons mostly affects males. It is commonly overlooked on conventional chest X-rays, and is considered to be rare, but the prevalence might be higher as commonly assumed. ⋯ Due to the lack of clinical trials and wide variability of case-report format, a systematic review was deemed not feasible, therefore PubMed and Medline databases were searched using terms "Mounier-Kuhn syndrome", "tracheobronchomegaly", "tracheomegaly", and "bronchomegaly", without any time restrictions, to summarize currently known facts about the syndrome. To the authors' best knowledge, the result is currently the most comprehensive review of previously published literature about the congenital tracheobronchomegaly, and summarizes what's known about symptoms, prevalence, disease associations, and treatment options for this syndrome.
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Respiratory medicine · Sep 2013
Review Meta AnalysisA meta-analysis on the prophylactic use of macrolide antibiotics for the prevention of disease exacerbations in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Macrolides are of unique interest in preventing COPD exacerbations because they possess a variety of antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. Recent research has generated renewed interest in prophylactic macrolides to reduce the risk of COPD exacerbations. Little is known about how well these recent findings fit within the context of previous research on this subject. The purpose of this article is to evaluate, via exploratory meta-analysis, whether the overall consensus favors prophylactic macrolides for prevention of COPD exacerbations. ⋯ Prophylactic macrolides are an effective approach for reducing incident COPD exacerbations. There were several limitations to this study including a lack of consistent adverse event reporting and some degree of clinical and statistical heterogeneity between studies.
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Respiratory medicine · Sep 2013
ReviewObesity and asthma: a coincidence or a causal relationship? A systematic review.
Epidemiological data has established increasing adiposity as a risk factor for incident asthma. However, the mechanisms underlying the association between obesity and asthma are incompletely understood. In the present paper, we review current knowledge of possible mechanisms mediating the observed association between obesity and asthma. ⋯ The association between obesity and asthma is not straightforward, and further knowledge is clearly needed, as understanding the underlying mechanisms may lead to new therapeutic options for this high-risk part of the asthma population.
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Respiratory medicine · Sep 2013
ReviewObesity and asthma: a coincidence or a causal relationship? A systematic review.
Epidemiological data has established increasing adiposity as a risk factor for incident asthma. However, the mechanisms underlying the association between obesity and asthma are incompletely understood. In the present paper, we review current knowledge of possible mechanisms mediating the observed association between obesity and asthma. ⋯ The association between obesity and asthma is not straightforward, and further knowledge is clearly needed, as understanding the underlying mechanisms may lead to new therapeutic options for this high-risk part of the asthma population.
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Respiratory medicine · Aug 2013
Review Meta Analysis Comparative StudyDaily vs. intermittent inhaled corticosteroids for recurrent wheezing and mild persistent asthma: a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Intermittent ICS treatment with SABA in response to symptoms, is an emerging strategy for control of mild-to-moderate asthma, and recurrent wheezing. This systematic revue compares the efficacy of daily vs. intermittent ICS among preschoolers, children and adults with persistent wheezing and mild to moderate stable persistent asthma. ⋯ No significant differences between daily and intermittent ICS in reducing the incidence of asthma exacerbations was found. However, the daily ICS strategy was superior in many secondary outcomes. Therefore, this study suggests to not change daily for intermittent ICS use among preschoolers, children with persistent wheezing and adults with mild-to-moderate stable persistent asthma. International prospective register of systematic reviews http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/ (CRD42012003228).