Chest
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Review
Management and Diagnosis of Psycogenic Cough, Habit Cough, and Tic Cough: A Systematic Review.
Several pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapeutic options have been used to treat cough that is not associated with a pulmonary or extrapulmonary etiology. ⋯ Only low-quality evidence exists to support a particular strategy to define and treat psychogenic, habit, and tic cough. Patient values, preferences, and availability of potential therapies should guide treatment choice.
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Clinical Trial
Adenovirus-specific immunoglobulin G maturation as a surrogate marker in acute exacerbations of COPD.
B cells in airways and lung parenchyma may be involved in COPD evolution; however, whether their pathogenic role is beneficial or harmful remains controversial. The objective of this study was to investigate the maturation of adenovirus-specific immunoglobulins in patients with COPD with respect to clinical outcome. ⋯ Delayed immunoglobulin avidity maturation following COPD exacerbation is associated with worse outcomes.
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Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc); however, prognostication of SSc-associated ILD (SSc-ILD) remains challenging. We conducted a systematic review to identify variables that predict mortality and ILD progression in SSc-ILD. ⋯ Mortality and ILD progression were predicted by several patient-specific, ILD-specific, and SSc-specific factors. Additional prospective studies are required to validate these preliminary findings and to identify combinations of variables that accurately predict the prognosis of SSc-ILD.
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Review
Positive airway pressure therapy with adaptive servoventilation: part 1: operational algorithms.
The beginning of the 21st century witnessed the advent of new positive airway pressure (PAP) technologies for the treatment of central and complex (mixtures of obstructive and central) sleep apnea syndromes. Adaptive servoventilation (ASV) devices applied noninvasively via mask that act to maintain a stable level of ventilation regardless of mechanism are now widely available. These PAP devices function by continually measuring either minute ventilation or airflow to calculate a target ventilation to be applied as needed. ⋯ Moreover, ASV units have become available that incorporate autotitration of expiratory PAP to fully automate the treatment of all varieties of sleep-disordered breathing. Although extremely effective in many patients when used properly, these are complex devices that demand from the clinician a high degree of expertise in understanding how they work and how to determine the proper settings for any given patient. In part one of this series we detail the underlying technology, whereas in part two we will describe the application of ASV in the clinical setting.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Standardizing the analysis of physical activity in patients with COPD following a pulmonary rehabilitation program.
There is a wide variability in measurement methodology of physical activity. This study investigated the effect of different analysis techniques on the statistical power of physical activity outcomes after pulmonary rehabilitation. ⋯ Changes in physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation are best measured for 4 weekdays, including only days with at least 8 h of wearing time (during waking hours) and considering the difference in DT as a covariate in the analysis.