American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · May 2018
ReviewHome Oxygen in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Two landmark trials conducted more than 35 years ago provided scientific evidence that, under very specific circumstances, long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) may prolong life. These two trials enrolled 290 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and severe daytime hypoxemia documented by direct arterial blood gas measurement. From that time, LTOT became a standard of care, and the indications for oxygen therapy expanded to include nocturnal oxygen therapy for isolated nocturnal oxygen desaturation, ambulatory oxygen to correct exercise-induced desaturation, and short-burst oxygen to relieve dyspnea. ⋯ Also, adherence to LTOT is usually suboptimal. Important areas for future research include improving understanding of the mechanisms of action of supplemental oxygen, the clinical and biochemical predictors of responsiveness to LTOT, the methods for measuring and enhancing adherence to LTOT, and the cost-effectiveness of oxygen therapy. A standardization of terminology to describe the use of supplemental oxygen at home is provided.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · May 2018
A Systematic Review of Tools to Measure Respiratory Rate in Order to Identify Childhood Pneumonia.
Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death in children worldwide, with most deaths occurring in developing countries. Measuring respiratory rate is critical to the World Health Organization's guidelines for diagnosing childhood pneumonia in low-resource settings, yet it is difficult to accurately measure. We conducted a systematic review to landscape existing respiratory rate measurement technologies. ⋯ Direct comparison between studies was complicated by small sample size, absence of a consistent reference standard, and variations in comparison methodology. There is an urgent need for affordable and appropriate innovations that can reliably measure a child's respiratory rate in low-resource settings. Accelerating development or scale-up of these technologies could have the potential to advance childhood pneumonia diagnosis worldwide.