Chest
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Review Meta Analysis
The Impact of Visceral Pleural Invasion In Node-negative Non-small-cell Lung cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Visceral pleural invasion (VPI) is considered an aggressive and invasive factor in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Recent studies found that depending on tumor size, VPI influences T stage, but there is no consensus on whether VPI is important in node-negative NSCLC. In addition, its role in stage IB NSCLC is still uncertain. In this meta-analysis, we assessed the role of VPI in node-negative NSCLC according to various tumor sizes and especially in stage IB disease. ⋯ VPI together with tumor size has a synergistic effect on survival in node-negative NSCLC. Patients with stage IB NSCLC and larger tumor size with VPI might be considered for adjuvant chemotherapy after surgical resection and need careful preoperative evaluation and postoperative follow-up. Further randomized clinical trials to determine the impact of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage IB NSCLC with VPI are warranted.
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Multicenter Study
Dedicated severe asthma services improve healthcare utilisation and quality of life.
Systematic assessment of severe asthma can be used to confirm the diagnosis, identify comorbidities, and address adherence to therapy. However, the prospective usefulness of this approach is yet to be established. The objective of this study was to determine whether the systematic assessment of severe asthma is associated with improved quality of life (QoL) and health-care use and, using prospective data collection, to compare relevant outcomes in patients referred with severe asthma to specialist centers across the United Kingdom. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first time that a prospective study has shown that a systematic assessment at a dedicated severe asthma center is associated with improved QoL and asthma control and a reduction in health-care use and oral steroid burden.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Comparison of lung expansion techniques on thoracoabdominal mechanics and incidence of pulmonary complications after upper abdominal surgery: a randomized and controlled trial.
Lung expansion techniques (LETs) are widely used to prevent postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs). However, the effects of each of these techniques on thoracoabdominal mechanics and PPC incidence after abdominal surgery remain unclear. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of LET on pulmonary volumes, respiratory muscle activation, and PPC incidence after major, elective upper abdominal surgery. ⋯ LETs do not modify the changes on thoracoabdominal mechanics or prevent PPCs after abdominal surgery. The indiscriminate use of LETs should not be routinely prescribed to prevent PPCs; however, more studies are required to confirm our results and to change the standard practice.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients with Systemic Rheumatic Disease: a multicenter study.
Patients with systemic rheumatic diseases (SRDs) may require ICU management for SRD exacerbation or treatment-related infections or toxicities. ⋯ In patients with SRDs, critical care management is mostly needed only in patients with a previously known SRD; however, diagnosis can be made in the ICU for 12% of patients. Infection and SRD exacerbation account for more than two-thirds of these situations, both targeting chiefly the lungs. Direct admission to the ICU may improve outcomes.