BMC pulmonary medicine
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
Comparative Study Clinical TrialAssessing health status in COPD. A head-to-head comparison between the COPD assessment test (CAT) and the clinical COPD questionnaire (CCQ).
Health status provides valuable information, complementary to spirometry and improvement of health status has become an important treatment goal in COPD management. We compared the usefulness and validity of the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), two simple questionnaires, in comparison with the St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). ⋯ The CAT and CCQ have similar psychometric properties with a slight advantage for CCQ based mainly on patients' preference and are both valid and reliable questionnaires to assess health status in COPD patients.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
Case ReportsIdiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis: consideration of a clinicopathological entity in a series of Japanese patients.
Idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (IPPFE) is a recently reported group of disorders characterized by fibrotic thickening of the pleural and subpleural parenchyma predominantly in the upper lobes. We report five Japanese cases fulfilling the criteria of IPPFE and address whether it should be considered a separate clinicopathologic entity. And this study was an attempt to identify features in common between IPPFE and previously described idiopathic upper lobe fibrosis (IPUF), allowing IPPFE to be considered as a distinct entity in our Japanese series. ⋯ IPPFE deserves to be defined as a separate, original clinicopathologic entity owing to its uniformity and IPPFE has some features in common with previously described idiopathic upper lobe fibrosis (IPUF). Our limited experience with a cohort of 5 subjects suggests that IPPFE can be rapidly progressive.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
Early intravenous unfractionated heparin and outcome in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome: a retrospective propensity matched cohort study.
Acute lung injury (ALI) is characterized by a pro-coagulant state. Heparin is an anticoagulant with anti-inflammatory properties. Unfractionated heparin has been found to be protective in experimental models of ALI. We hypothesized that an intravenous therapeutic dose of unfractionated heparin would favorably influence outcome of critically ill patients diagnosed with ALI. ⋯ Administration of therapeutic doses of intravenous unfractionated heparin was not associated with reduced mortality in critically ill patients diagnosed with ALI. Heparin treatment did not increase transfusion requirements. These results may help in the design of prospective trials evaluating the use of heparin as adjunctive treatment for ALI.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
Polymorphisms in ADRB2 gene can modulate the response to bronchodilators and the severity of cystic fibrosis.
The most common cystic fibrosis (CF) manifestation is the progressive chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by deficiency, dysfunction, or absence of the CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator) protein on the apical surface of the cells in the respiratory tract. The use of bronchodilators (BD), and inhaled corticosteroids (IC) have been suggested for the management of airway inflammation in CF. The effectiveness of BD and IC have been verified, proven in laboratory and in the clinical treatment for asthma patients. However, in CF, the effectiveness of these drugs is controversial. The extent of asthma's response to BD depends on the presence of polymorphisms in the ADRB2 gene. In contrast, in CF, little is known about the response to the BD and the association of CF´s severity with the different polymorphisms in ADRB2 gene. In this context, our objective was to verify whether the Arg16Gly and Glu27Gln polymorphisms in ADRB2 gene are associated with severity and with the bronchodilator response in CF patients. ⋯ There was an association between the Arg16Gly and Gln27Glu polymorphisms in ADRB2 gene with CF´s severity and bronchodilator response.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency, exacerbation frequency and human rhinovirus exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency is associated with COPD and increased susceptibility to infection in the general population. ⋯ Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in COPD are not associated with frequent exacerbations and do not increase susceptibility to HRV exacerbations. Independent of day length, patients who spend less time outdoors have lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration.