Chest
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Oral Treprostinil for the Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Patients Receiving Background Endothelin Receptor Antagonist and Phosphodiesterase Type 5 Inhibitor Therapy (The FREEDOM-C2 Study): A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Treprostinil is a stable prostacyclin analog approved for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) as parenteral or inhaled therapy. Treprostinil diolamine, a sustained-release oral formulation of treprostinil, was studied to determine whether it could provide a more convenient prostacyclin treatment option for patients with less severe PAH. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral treprostinil in patients with PAH receiving stable background endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA), phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE-5I) therapy, or both. ⋯ The addition of oral treprostinil to background ERA and PDE-5I therapy did not result in a statistically significant improvement in exercise capacity. Side effects were common but tolerated by most subjects.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia in medical surgical critical illness.
In a recent multicenter randomized trial comparing unfractionated heparin (UFH) with low-molecular-weight heparin (dalteparin) for thromboprophylaxis in 3,746 critically ill patients, 17 patients (0.5%) developed heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) based on serotonin-release assay-positive (SRA+) status. A trend to a lower frequency of HIT with dalteparin vs UFH was observed in the intention-to-treat analysis (five vs 12 patients, P = .14), which was statistically significant (three vs 12 patients, P = .046) in a prespecified per-protocol analysis that excluded patients with DVT at study entry. We sought to characterize HIT outcomes and to determine how dalteparin thromboprophylaxis may reduce HIT frequency in patients in the ICU. ⋯ The lower risk of HIT in patients in the ICU receiving dalteparin appears related to both decreased antibody formation and decreased clinical breakthrough of HIT among patients forming antibodies.
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Comparative Study
A New Method to Detect Air Leakage in a Patient With Pneumothorax Using Saline Solution and Multidetector-Row Spiral CT Scan.
The purpose of this study was to establish a new CT scan method to show signs of air leakage and to detect the point of the lung leak in patients with spontaneous pneumothorax by using saline solution and phonation. ⋯ With a saline injection and vocalization, CT scan could demonstrate air-leak signs in patients with spontaneous pneumothorax. This method does not require contrast medium, special instruments, or high skill and, thus, is a novel and useful examination to detect the culprit lesion in pneumothorax.
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Comparative Study
Usefulness of cardiothoracic chest ultrasound in the management of acute respiratory failure in critical care practice.
This study investigated the clinical relevance of early general chest ultrasonography (ie, heart and lung recordings) in patients in the ICU with acute respiratory failure (ARF). ⋯ The use of cardiothoracic ultrasound appears to be an attractive complementary diagnostic tool and seems able to contribute to an early therapeutic decision based on reproducible physiopathologic data.