Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases
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Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a pulmonary syndrome with growing prevalence and high mortality and morbidity that increase with age. There is no current therapy able to restore pulmonary function in ARDS patients. ⋯ Recent studies have demonstrated that MSCs can also control oxidative stress, transfer functional mitochondria to the damaged cells, and control bacterial infection by secretion of antibacterial peptides. These characteristics make MSCs promising candidates for ARDS therapy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of an automatic triggering and cycling system on comfort and patient-ventilator synchrony during pressure support ventilation.
The digital Auto-Trak™ system is a technology capable of automatically adjusting the triggering and cycling mechanisms during pressure support ventilation (PSV). ⋯ Use of the Auto-Trak system during PSV showed similar results in comparison to the conventional adjustments with respect to patient-ventilator synchrony and discomfort in simulated conditions of invasive mechanical ventilation.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic fibrotic lung disease with increasing incidence; the median survival is only 35 months and as yet no therapy has been proven to prolong survival. Recent unexpected randomised controlled trial (RCT) results and the conflicting evaluations of drug efficacy by regulatory agencies when considering the approval of pirfenidone have emphasised that we remain in the first stages of both our understanding of disease-relevant therapeutic targets and in our ability to investigate these putative targets with well-designed RCT. ⋯ The role of a formal multi-disciplinary team meeting in a specialist centre with expertise in IPF is key to this. New methodological and ethical research challenges will arise as we enter an era of potential combination therapy; standardized, robust RCT design will be central to meeting these challenges if we are to enable ongoing progress in our aim of increasing both the length and quality of life of patients with IPF.
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Comparative Study
The impact of tunneled pleural catheters on the quality of life of patients with malignant pleural effusions.
Tunneled pleural catheters (TPC) are used in the management of malignant pleural effusions (MPE), but the impact of this palliative procedure on patient quality of life (QoL) has not been well described. ⋯ TPCs are associated with a significant improvement in global health status, QoL and dyspnea at the 2-week time point in patients with recurrent MPE.
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Comparative Study
CHRNA3 variant for lung cancer is associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Korea.
Genome-wide association studies have identified CHRNA3 as a lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) candidate gene in non-Hispanic Caucasian cohorts. However, there are differences in minor allele frequencies among ethnic groups, and limited data exists for Asian populations. ⋯ Genetic variations in CHRNA3 are associated with COPD in the Korean population.