Respirology : official journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology
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One of the most significant complications of preterm birth is bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The pathophysiology of BPD has changed in recent years as advances in neonatal care have led to increased survival of smaller, more preterm, infants who display alterations to alveolar and pulmonary microvascular development. It is becoming clear that infants with 'new' BPD experience lung disease that persists into later childhood, however, the oldest of these children are just now entering young adulthood and therefore the longer term pulmonary implications remain unknown. The role of lung function testing in the identification and subsequent management of patients with lung disease resulting from a neonatal classification of BPD is reviewed based on the underlying pathophysiology of the disease.
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It remains difficult to differentiate between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in clinical practice, especially in a primary care setting. The purpose of this study was to develop a new scoring system for differentiating between COPD and asthma, and to evaluate its effectiveness. ⋯ The new scoring system that was developed in this study may be a useful tool for differentiating between COPD and asthma in primary care.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an incurable condition that is characterized by progressive pulmonary fibrosis, architectural distortion of the lung and loss of gas exchange units. Until recently, there was no effective treatment for this condition. ⋯ Pirfenidone (Assessment of Pirfenidone to Confirm Efficacy and Safety in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis trial) and nintedanib (Efficacy and Safety of Nintedanib in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis-1 and -2 trials) have both demonstrated positive outcomes in patients with IPF. In this perspective, we critically discuss the role of these agents in IPF and in the broader pulmonary fibrosis population.
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A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs35705950 in the promoter of Mucin 5B (MUC5B) has been reported to be associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) mainly in Caucasian populations. This study was conducted to confirm the association between rs35705950 and IPF in a Japanese population. ⋯ The association between rs35705950 and IPF was also present in this Japanese cohort, but was not as strong as the German counterpart. To our knowledge, this is the first study to successfully validate the association between rs35705950 and IPF in a Japanese ethnicity.
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Recent data suggest that grey-scale textural analysis on endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) imaging can differentiate benign from malignant lymphadenopathy. The objective of studies was to evaluate grey-scale textural analysis and examine its clinical utility. ⋯ These findings suggest that use of EBUS grey-scale textural analysis for differentiation of malignant from benign lymphadenopathy may not be accurate. Further studies are required.