Chest
-
An 18-year-old woman with no previous medical history presented to an outside hospital facility with acute chest pain. She had mild shortness of breath, particularly with exertion, for the prior 2 months.
-
Observational Study
Analgosedation practices and the impact of sedation depth on clinical outcomes among patients requiring mechanical ventilation in the emergency department: a cohort study.
Analgesia and sedation are cornerstone therapies for mechanically ventilated patients. Despite data showing that early deep sedation in the ICU influences outcome, this has not been investigated in the ED. Therefore, ED-based sedation practices, and their influence on outcome, remain incompletely defined. This study's objectives were to describe ED sedation practices in mechanically ventilated patients and to test the hypothesis that ED sedation depth is associated with worse outcomes. ⋯ Early deep sedation is common in mechanically ventilated ED patients and is associated with worse mortality. These data suggest that ED-based sedation is a modifiable variable that could be targeted to improve outcome.
-
Acute cough associated with the common cold (CACC) causes significant impairment in quality of life. Effective treatment approaches are needed for CACC. We conducted a systematic review on the management of CACC to update the recommendations and suggestions of the CHEST 2006 guideline on this topic. ⋯ The evidence supporting the management of CACC is overall of low quality. This document provides treatment suggestions based on the best currently available evidence and identifies gaps in our knowledge and areas for future research.
-
Multicenter Study
Mortality risk prediction in scleroderma-related interstitial lung disease: the SADL model.
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with scleroderma (Scl). Risk prediction and prognostication in patients with Scl-ILD are challenging because of heterogeneity in the disease course. ⋯ The SADL model uses simple, readily accessible clinical variables to predict all-cause mortality in Scl-ILD.
-
Despite continuous efforts of regional governmental agencies, air pollution remains a major threat to public health worldwide. In January 2017, a severe episode of smog similar to the Great Smog of 1952 occurred in London. The longest episode of Chinese haze also developed in Beijing, during which levels of particulate matter < 2.5 μm rose to 500 μg/m3. ⋯ With novel genomic and epigenomic studies revealing air pollution- and smoking-induced mutational signatures and epigenetic editing in diseases such as lung cancer, it has become feasible to develop precision strategies for early intervention in the disease-causing pathways driven by the specific mutations or epigenetic regulations, or both. New therapies guided by gene-drug interactions and genomic biomarkers may also be developed. We discuss both perspectives regarding the urgent need to manage the toxic effects of smog and smoke for the benefit of global health and the novel concept of precision intervention to protect the exposed individuals when exposure to smog and secondhand smoke cannot be voluntarily avoided or easily modified.