Articles: function.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Asthma, COPD and overlap syndrome: a longitudinal study in young European adults.
We compared risk factors and clinical characteristics, 9-year lung function change and hospitalisation risk across subjects with the asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap syndrome (ACOS), asthma or COPD alone, or none of these diseases. Participants in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey in 1991-1993 (aged 20-44 years) and 1999-2001 were included. Chronic airflow obstruction was defined as pre-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity
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Almost every disorder of the CNS is said to have an inflammatory component, but the precise nature of inflammation in the CNS is often imprecisely defined, and the role of CNS-resident cells is uncertain compared with that of cells that invade the tissue from the systemic immune compartment. To understand inflammation in the CNS, the term must be better defined, and the response of tissue to disturbances in homoeostasis (eg, neurodegenerative processes) should be distinguished from disorders in which aberrant immune responses lead to CNS dysfunction and tissue destruction (eg, autoimmunity). Whether the inflammatory tissue response to injury is reparative or degenerative seems to be dependent on context and timing, as are the windows of opportunity for therapeutic intervention in inflammatory CNS diseases.
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Comparative Study
Pulmonary vascular response patterns during exercise in interstitial lung disease.
When overt pulmonary hypertension arises in interstitial lung disease (ILD), it contributes to exercise intolerance. We sought to determine the functional significance of abnormal pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) responses to exercise in ILD.27 ILD patients and 11 age-matched controls underwent invasive cardiopulmonary exercise testing (iCPET). Mean PAP (mPAP) was indexed to cardiac output (Q'T) during exercise, with a mPAP-Q'T slope ≥3 mmHg·min·L(-1) defined as an abnormal pulmonary vascular response. ⋯ ILD+PVD patients had increased dead space volume (VD)/tidal volume (VT) and minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production at the anaerobic threshold. In ILD, mPAP-Q'T slope ≥3 mmHg·min·L(-1) is associated with lower peak oxygen consumption, increased VD/VT and inefficient ventilation. While noninvasive parameters were unable to predict those with abnormal pulmonary vascular responses to exercise, iCPET-derived mPAP-Q'T slope may aid in identifying physiologically significant, early pulmonary vascular disease in ILD.
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The course of denim sandblasting silicosis is unknown. We aimed to reevaluate former sandblasters studied in 2007 for incident silicosis, radiographic progression, pulmonary function loss, and mortality and to examine any associations between these outcomes and previously demonstrated risk factors for silicosis. ⋯ This 4-year follow-up suggests that almost all former denim sandblasters may develop silicosis, despite short exposures and latency.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Sep 2015
Observational StudyAcute alcohol intoxication and bispectral index monitoring.
Bispectral index (BIS) monitoring is commonly used to decrease the risk of awareness during anaesthesia. We aimed to determine the relationship between blood alcohol concentration and brain function (as measured by BIS) in healthy adults. ⋯ In healthy young adults, we found a moderate correlation between venous blood alcohol concentration and BIS. This suggests that acute alcohol consumption can decrease BIS. This information may be relevant when providing anaesthesia to intoxicated patients who require urgent or time-critical surgery, although certain limitations of this study should be kept in mind.