Therapeutic advances in respiratory disease
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Ther Adv Respir Dis · Feb 2015
Indwelling pleural catheters for pleural effusions associated with end-stage renal disease: a case series.
Pleural effusions are a common complication of end-stage renal disease.These effusions are occasionally refractory to medical management, but few options are then available. Indwelling pleural catheter insertion (IPC) has been well described for the management of malignant pleural effusions and, more recently, of nonmalignant effusions of other origin. We aimed to analyze our experience and to evaluate the safety and feasibility of using IPCs for pleural effusion associated with end-stage renal disease. ⋯ IPC insertion for pleural effusions associated with end-stage renal disease appears safe and effective. Larger studies are needed, particularly regarding the impact of this intervention on quality of life.
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This analysis examines the roots of clinical practice regarding oxygen therapy and finds that some aspects have changed very little over the past 200 years. Oxygen is commonly prescribed and administered as a therapy across all healthcare settings, particularly for the treatment and management of respiratory conditions, both acute and chronic. ⋯ It can be considered that based on clinical presumptions and speculation the prolific and injudicious use of oxygen was encouraged and the legacy for today's practice seeded. The conjectures proposed here may enable modern day erroneous beliefs to be confronted and clinical practice to move on.
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Ther Adv Respir Dis · Oct 2014
Reviewα1 Antitrypsin deficiency: current best practice in testing and augmentation therapy.
α1 Antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) increases the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), liver disease and other conditions. Although it is not a rare disease, it is a condition rarely diagnosed because of unawareness by most healthcare providers who manage subjects at risk. Testing recommendations have been published and strongly suggest testing all subjects with confirmed COPD, cryptogenic liver cirrhosis, subjects with incompletely reversible airflow obstruction and siblings of affected individuals. ⋯ Observational studies strongly suggest a beneficial effect of augmentation therapy in slowing lung function decline and randomized trials suggest a beneficial effect in slowing the progression of emphysema over time as measured by computed tomography. In addition, augmentation therapy has been shown to modulate systemic inflammatory responses and affect markers of elastin degradation. As new markers of disease progression are discovered, new doses of AAT replacement are tested and sub-phenotypes of disease are described, treatment recommendations are likely to change towards a more individualized therapeutic approach.
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Ther Adv Respir Dis · Jun 2014
The potential for macitentan, a new dual endothelin receptor antagonist, in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
In recent years in the management of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs) represent a well-established class of therapeutic agents with clear beneficial effects. Macitentan (Opsumit®), a dual ERA optimized for efficacy and safety, is the newest drug in the class. Macitentan presents a number of key beneficial characteristics, including increased in vivo preclinical efficacy versus existing ERAs, resulting from sustained receptor binding and physicochemical properties that allow enhanced tissue penetration. ⋯ In the SERAPHIN trial, a phase III long-term study of PAH, macitentan significantly reduced morbidity and mortality by 45% versus placebo, providing sustained long-term improvements in exercise capacity. No association was found between changes in exercise capacity and long-term clinical outcomes, but improved cardiopulmonary hemodynamics were recorded in macitentan-treated patients irrespective of baseline background PAH therapy or World Health Organization functional class. Based on these favorable data, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the 10 mg/day dose in late 2013 and the same process has recently been concluded by the European Medicines Agency.
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Ther Adv Respir Dis · Apr 2014
Letter Case ReportsThe use of high-flow nasal oxygen therapy in the management of hypercarbic respiratory failure.
Hypercarbic respiratory failure, occurring secondary to chronic lung disease, is a frequently encountered problem. These patients present a significant challenge to respiratory and critical care services, as many are unsuitable for mechanical ventilation and most have multiple comorbidities. Recently, noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has become established as the primary modality for respiratory support in this group of patients. ⋯ Few clinical studies have been conducted in adults, although several are planned. To date the majority of available evidence addresses the use of HFNO in hypoxemic respiratory failure. Here we present a case in which a HFNO system was used to successfully manage hypercarbic respiratory failure in a patient unable to tolerate conventional NIV.