American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 2014
Multicenter StudyEffects of a Functional Variant c.353T>C in Snai1 on Risk of Two Contextual Diseases: COPD and Lung Cancer.
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a key role in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. ⋯ The functional germline variant c.353T>C (p.Val118Ala) of Snai1 confers consistently decreased risks of lung cancer and COPD, and this variant affects lung cancer risk through a mediation effect of COPD.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 2014
Risk for Tuberculosis in Child Contacts: Development and Validation of a Predictive Score.
Contact investigation of persons exposed to tuberculosis (TB) is resource intensive. To date, no clinical prediction rule for TB risk exists for use as a guide during contact investigation. ⋯ A risk predictive score was developed and validated to identify child contacts aged 0 to 12 years at increased risk for active TB. This predictive score can help to prioritize active case finding or isoniazid preventive therapy among children exposed to TB.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 2014
Lung Inhomogeneity in Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
Pressures and volumes needed to induce ventilator-induced lung injury in healthy lungs are far greater than those applied in diseased lungs. A possible explanation may be the presence of local inhomogeneities acting as pressure multipliers (stress raisers). ⋯ Lung inhomogeneities are associated with overall disease severity and mortality. Increasing the airway pressures decreased but did not abolish the extent of lung inhomogeneities.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 2014
Future Directions in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Research: An NHLBI Workshop Report.
The median survival of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) continues to be approximately 3 years from the time of diagnosis, underscoring the lack of effective medical therapies for this disease. In the United States alone, approximately 40,000 patients die of this disease annually. In November 2012, the NHLBI held a workshop aimed at coordinating research efforts and accelerating the development of IPF therapies. ⋯ Food and Drug Administration to review the current state of IPF research and identify priority areas, opportunities for collaborations, and directions for future research. The workshop was organized into groups that were tasked with assessing and making recommendations to promote progress in one of the following six critical areas of research: (1) biology of alveolar epithelial injury and aberrant repair; (2) role of extracellular matrix; (3) preclinical modeling; (4) role of inflammation and immunity; (5) genetic, epigenetic, and environmental determinants; (6) translation of discoveries into diagnostics and therapeutics. The workshop recommendations provide a basis for directing future research and strategic planning by scientific, professional, and patient communities and the NHLBI.