Respiratory care
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Observational Study
Is nasopharyngeal tube effective as interface to provide bilevel non-invasive ventilation?
The nasopharyngeal tube (NT) is a potential interface for noninvasive ventilation (NIV) available in all health care centers. The aim of the study was to describe our experience in the use of the NT for bi-level NIV in infants and its effectiveness. ⋯ Use of the NT showed 73% effectiveness, with few complications. The effectiveness was higher in e-NIV than i-NIV.
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This study aims to evaluate bronchial thickness via thorax high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in subjects with mild intermittent asthma in comparison with healthy control subjects. ⋯ Our findings revealed an increase in bronchial wall thickness in peripheral airways in subjects with mild intermittent asthma regardless of the duration of asthma. This may indicate a need to also administer anti-inflammatory or bronchodilator therapy, which is effective in peripheral airways during the early period of the disease.
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Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a nosocomial infection of multifactorial etiology and has a negative influence on cardiovascular surgery (CVS) outcomes. ⋯ Oral hygiene and mouth rinses with chlorhexidine under supervision of a dentist proved effective in reducing the incidence of VAP.
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Unilateral primary pulmonary hypoplasia is rare in adulthood. It is usually present in the neonatal period or in early childhood, and is characterized by a decreased number of bronchial segments and decreased/absent alveolar air space. ⋯ A thorough workup, including imaging modalities and bronchoscopy, disclosed a hypoplastic left lung, which had gone undiagnosed for 25 years. Embryological, clinical, and diagnostic aspects are briefly discussed.
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The semi-quantitative serum procalcitonin test (Brahms PCT-Q) is available conveniently in clinical practice. However, there are few data on the relationship between results for this semi-quantitative procalcitonin test and clinical outcomes of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We investigated the usefulness of this procalcitonin test for predicting the clinical outcomes of CAP in comparison with severity scoring systems and the blood urea nitrogen/serum albumin (B/A) ratio, which has been reported to be a simple but reliable prognostic indicator in our prior CAP study. ⋯ The semi-quantitative serum procalcitonin level on hospital admission was less predictive of mortality from CAP compared with the B/A ratio. However, the subjects with serum procalcitonin levels ≥ 10.0 ng/mL were more likely to require intensive care than those with lower levels.