Paediatric respiratory reviews
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Paediatr Respir Rev · Jun 2018
Review Case ReportsCFTR modulator therapy in patients with cystic fibrosis and an organ transplant.
CFTR modulators are a class of drugs which directly target the defective CFTR protein in cystic fibrosis (CF), improving its function with resultant clinical improvements. Currently these drugs are confined to people with a limited selection of genetic mutations. ⋯ This excludes many patients who may benefit from the multisystem effects of CFTR modulator treatment. In this review, we discuss issues regarding drug interactions, organ transplantation and CFTR modulation.
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Paediatr Respir Rev · Jun 2018
ReviewThe clinical use of mechanical insufflation-exsufflation in children with neuromuscular disorders in Europe.
Mechanical insufflation-exsufflation (MI-E) is a strategy to treat pulmonary exacerbations in neuromuscular disorders (NMDs). Pediatric guidelines for optimal setting titration of MI-E are lacking and the settings used in studies vary. Our objective was to assess the actual MI-E settings being used in current clinical treatment of children with NMDs and a survey was sent in July 2016 to European expertise centers. ⋯ Asymmetric pressures were as common as symmetric. Both Ti, Te, Pi and Pe increased with age (p < 0.001). In conclusion, pediatric MI-E settings in clinical use varied greatly and altered with age, highlighting the need of more studies to improve our knowledge of optimal settings in MI-E in children with NMDs.
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The treatment of people with cystic fibrosis (CF) has been transformed by the availability of drugs that target the basic chloride defect in the disease. The use of drugs that target specific molecular defects embodies the goals of precision medicine, which incorporate preventive and therapeutic strategies and takes into account differences among individuals. However, the entirety of CF care, from diagnosis to understanding the clinical phenotype and developing a therapeutic strategy, depends on taking into account individual characteristics to achieve optimal outcomes. Future therapies are likely to be even more individualized ushering in a new era of precision medicine.
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Primary ciliary dyskinesia is an inherited disease characterized by impaired ciliary function leading to diverse clinical manifestations, including chronic sinopulmonary disease, persistent middle ear effusions, laterality defects, and infertility. Our understanding of the complex genetics and functional phenotypes of primary ciliary dyskinesia has rapidly grown, and over 35 disease-associated genes have been identified, which segregate into genes that encode axonemal motor proteins, regulatory proteins within the cilium, and cytoplasmic proteins involved in ciliary assembly. These findings have yielded unexpected insights into the clinical heterogeneity of disease and are beginning to revolutionize diagnostic testing for primary ciliary dyskinesia.
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Paediatr Respir Rev · Jun 2017
ReviewPathophysiology, screening and diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia - A review of the literature.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common complication of extreme prematurity, which has increased over the last 20 years. BPD is associated with increased morbidities and mortality. ⋯ More recent studies have demonstrated an increased awareness of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PH) in BPD patients and recent international guidelines have advocated for better screening. This review will describe the current understanding of the pathophysiology of PH in infants with BPD, the in-depth assessment of the available literature linking PH and BPD, and propose an approach of screening and diagnosis of PH in infants with BPD.