BMC pulmonary medicine
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Non-invasive mechanical ventilation and mortality in elderly immunocompromised patients hospitalized with pneumonia: a retrospective cohort study.
Mortality after pneumonia in immunocompromised patients is higher than for immunocompetent patients. The use of non-invasive mechanical ventilation for patients with severe pneumonia may provide beneficial outcomes while circumventing potential complications associated with invasive mechanical ventilation. The aim of our study was to determine if the use of non-invasive mechanical ventilation in elderly immunocompromised patients with pneumonia is associated with higher all-cause mortality. ⋯ Our findings suggest that physicians should consider the use of non-invasive mechanical ventilation, when appropriate, for elderly immunocompromised patients hospitalized with pneumonia.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEfficacy and safety of fluticasone furoate 100 μg and 200 μg once daily in the treatment of moderate-severe asthma in adults and adolescents: a 24-week randomised study.
Inhaled corticosteroids are a mainstay of therapy for persistent asthma, but suboptimal adherence with twice-daily use is widespread. Fluticasone furoate (FF) is a new inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) suitable for once-daily dosing in asthma. This study was performed to descriptively assess the efficacy and safety of two doses of FF, with no planned formal statistical hypothesis testing. ⋯ Improvements from baseline in trough FEV1 were observed after 24 weeks of treatment with both doses of FF, with a numerically greater improvement in FEV1 observed in patients receiving FF 200 μg. Secondary endpoint findings were similar between groups. No safety concerns were identified during the study.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyEfficacy of a multifactorial intervention on therapeutic adherence in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a randomized controlled trial.
Therapeutic adherence of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is poor. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention on improving the therapeutic adherence in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with scheduled inhalation therapy. ⋯ Application of the multifactorial intervention designed for this study (COPD information, dose reminders, audio-visual material, motivational aspects and training in inhalation techniques) resulted in an improvement in therapeutic adherence in COPD patients with scheduled inhalation therapy.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyExtrafine beclomethasone/formoterol compared to fluticasone/salmeterol combination therapy in COPD.
The study evaluated the efficacy of beclomethasone dipropionate/formoterol fumarate (BDP/FF) extrafine combination versus fluticasone propionate/salmeterol (FP/S) combination in COPD patients. ⋯ BDP/FF extrafine combination provides COPD patients with an equivalent improvement of dyspnoea and a faster bronchodilation in comparison to FP/S.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyExacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease receiving physical therapy: a cohort-nested randomised controlled trial.
Physical exercise training aims at reducing disease-specific impairments and improving quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD exacerbations in particular negatively impact COPD progression. Physical therapy intervention seems indicated to influence exacerbations and their consequences. However, information on the effect of physical therapy on exacerbation occurrence is scarce. This study aims to investigate the potential of a protocol-directed physical therapy programme as a means to prevent or postpone exacerbations, to shorten the duration or to decrease the severity of exacerbations in patients with COPD who have recently experienced an exacerbation. Besides, this study focuses on the effect of protocol-directed physical therapy on health status and quality of life and on cost-effectiveness and cost-utility in patients with COPD who have recently experienced an exacerbation. ⋯ Ways to minimise potential problems regarding the execution of this study will be discussed.