Chest
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Rivaroxaban versus Dalteparin in Cancer-Associated Thromboembolism: A Randomized Trial.
Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are an alternative to low-molecular-weight heparin for treating cancer-associated VTE. ⋯ In this trial comparing rivaroxaban and dalteparin in the treatment of cancer-associated VTE, the number of patients was insufficient to reach the predefined criteria for noninferiority, but efficacy and safety results were consistent with those previously reported with DOACs. An updated meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing DOACs with low-molecular-weight heparin in patients with cancer-associated VTE is provided.
-
A 37-year-old woman presented to the ED in Singapore with a 6-month history of chronic cough and dyspnea that was associated with small volume hemoptysis, night sweats and occasional fever. Of note, she had no sick contacts or recent travel. Systemic review revealed no loss of weight or appetite and no autoimmune features. She had no other medical history and was a lifelong nonsmoker and was not an alcoholic.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of Traffic-Related Air Pollution on Exercise Endurance, Dyspnea, and Cardiorespiratory Physiologic Features in Health and COPD: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial.
Individuals with COPD have increased sensitivity to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) such as diesel exhaust (DE), but little is known about the acute effects of TRAP on exercise responses in COPD. ⋯ Contrary to our hypothesis, it was the healthy control participants, rather than the former smokers with and without COPD, who were negatively impacted by TRAP during exercise.
-
Expiratory muscle weakness and impaired airway clearance are early signs of respiratory dysfunction in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a degenerative muscle disorder in which muscle cells are damaged and replaced by fibrofatty tissue. Little is known about expiratory muscle pathology and its relationship to cough and airway clearance capacity; however, the level of muscle replacement by fat can be estimated using MRI and expressed as a fat fraction (FF). ⋯ These data improve understanding of the early phase of respiratory compromise in DMD, which typically presents as airway clearance dysfunction prior to the onset of hypoventilation, and links expiratory muscle fatty infiltration to pulmonary function measures.
-
A 33-year-old man with obesity, systemic arterial hypertension, and psoriasis who had been treated previously with little success by a pulmonologist for chronic unproductive irritant cough came to the outpatient pulmonary department because of profuse cough and short syncope (probably cough-induced). Chest radiography revealed widened mediastinum with lobular, polycyclic contours that was suspected to be a large mediastinal lymphadenopathy or mediastinal mass.