International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2007
ReviewPerioperative medical management of patients with COPD.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart diseases are considered independent risk factors for mortality and major cardiopulmonary complications after surgery. Coronary artery disease, heart failure and COPD share common risk factors and are often encountered,--isolated or combined--, in many surgical candidates. Perioperative optimization of these high-risk patients deserves a thorough understanding of the patient cardiopulmonary diseases as well as the respiratory consequences of surgery and anesthesia. ⋯ Reflex-induced bronchoconstriction and hyperdynamic inflation during mechanical ventilation could be prevented by using bronchodilating volatile anesthetics and adjusting the ventilatory settings with long expiration times. Intraoperatively, the depth of anesthesia, the circulatory volume and neuromuscular blockade should be assessed with modem physiological monitoring tools to titrate the administration of anesthetic agents, fluids and myorelaxant drugs. The recovery of postoperative lung volume can be facilitated by patient's education and empowerment, lung recruitment maneuvers, non-invasive pressure support ventilation and early ambulation.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2007
ReviewNon-invasive ventilation in exacerbations of COPD.
Randomized controlled trials have confirmed the evidence and helped to define when and where non invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) should be the first line treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Noninvasive ventilation has its best indication in moderate-to-severe respiratory acidosis in patients with AECOPD. ⋯ Patients with severe acidosis or with altered levels of consciousness due to hypercapnic acute respiratory failure are exposed to high risk of NIV failure. In these patients a NIV trial may be attempted in closely monitored clinical settings where prompt endotracheal intubation may be assured.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2007
ReviewDefect of alveolar regeneration in pulmonary emphysema: role of lung fibroblasts.
Pulmonary emphysema is characterized by the irreversible loss of pulmonary alveoli. Despite recent advances in the understanding this disease, its treatment remains palliative. In this review, we will successively review the data suggesting (1) that alveolar regeneration systems are functional in the mammalian lung and have the potential to regrow lost alveoli, (2) that cigarette smoke, the main etiologic factor of emphysema, inhibits those systems under experimental conditions, and (3) that alveolar regeneration systems are dysfunctional in the human emphysematous lung and may be a target for therapeutic intervention in this disease. Special emphasis will be put on the role of alveolar fibroblasts in those processes.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2007
ReviewReview of ventilatory techniques to optimize mechanical ventilation in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major global healthcare problem. Studies vary widely in the reported frequency of mechanical ventilation in acute exacerbations of COPD. Invasive intubation and mechanical ventilation may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. ⋯ The basic pathophysiology in COPD exacerbation is the critical expiratory airflow limitation with consequent dynamic hyperinflation. These changes lead to further derangement in ventilatory mechanics, muscle function and gas exchange which may result in respiratory failure. This review discusses the altered respiratory mechanics in COPD, ways to detect these changes in a ventilated patient and formulating ventilatory techniques to optimize management of respiratory failure due to exacerbation of COPD.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2007
Tobacco consumption in relation to causes of death in an urban population of north India.
Noncommunicable diseases have become a public heath problem in India concomitant with economic development, leading to increases in tobacco consumption, obesity, and changes in diet and lifestyle. Although observation suggests that tobacco consumption is a major risk factor for deaths due to circulatory, pulmonary, and malignant diseases, such studies are not available from most populations in developing countries. ⋯ This study shows that tobacco consumption appears to be a major contributor to deaths due to circulatory diseases and malignant diseases in India. Social class status had little impact on tobacco consumption in male decedents. Rapid changes in diet and lifestyle, increases in tobacco consumption, and possibly aging of the population, appear to be strongly associated with mortality due to cardiovascular diseases and cancer in this middle-income country.