The clinical respiratory journal
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We aimed to investigate the effect of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on the number of exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) patients. ⋯ Notwithstanding disease severity, PR treatment is reported to have positive effects on COPD patients in terms of perceived dyspnea, exercise capacity, arterial oxygenation, quality of life, anxiety and depression. This study found reduced number of emergency referrals and hospitalization among COPD patients with frequent exacerbations after PR.
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Comparative Study
The clinical value of exhaled nitric oxide in patients with lung cancer.
To investigate the clinical value of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in lung cancer patients. ⋯ The eNO levels in patients with lung cancer were higher than the normal level, especially in the patients with squamous cell carcinoma and small-cell lung cancer. The differences in eNO among the lung cancer subtypes were statistically significant. Measuring eNO will be helpful in diagnosing airway inflammation in lung cancer and in the classification of lung cancer.
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Determining the optimal time for performing a tracheostomy and weaning a patient off a ventilator is typically challenging for physicians, respiratory therapists, patients and patients' families. ⋯ Tracheostomy timing was strongly correlated with ventilator weaning. Early tracheostomy was higher successful ventilator weaning rates. The surgical patients were more likely to receive an early tracheostomy. However, the number of patients in Taiwan who received tracheostomies was lower than that in other countries. Further study maybe need to understand cultural variations in the acceptance of tracheostomies by patients.
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Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)-therapy is the first-line treatment for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). A significant limitation of CPAP treatment is the poor therapy adherence, compromising the beneficial effects. ⋯ Improving CPAP adherence is an ongoing challenge. This study shows that a multi-modality approach, using a combination of individual and group education using a slide presentation open for discussion resulted in improved therapy adherence.
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The co-existence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common phenomenon referred to as overlap syndrome (OS). In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of OS in mild hypoxemic COPD patients without OSA symptoms and compared characteristics of OS and COPD patients. ⋯ This findings support that high prevalence (58%) of OS in COPD patients without OSA symptoms is related to BMI. Therefore, sleep study should be considered in especially overweight or obese COPD patients, even in those without sleep apnea symptoms.