Chest
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Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Predictive value of interferon-γ release assays and tuberculin skin testing for progression from latent TB infection to disease state: a meta-analysis.
Given the current lack of effective vaccines against TB, the accuracy of screening tests for determining or excluding latent TB infection (LTBI) is decisive in effective TB control. This meta-analysis critically appraises studies investigating the positive and the negative predictive value (PPV and NPV, respectively) from a test-determined LTBI state for progression to active TB of interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) and the tuberculin skin test (TST). ⋯ Commercial IGRAs have a higher PPV and NPV for progression to active TB compared with those of the TST, especially when performed in high-risk persons.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
The efficacy and safety of the novel long-acting β2 agonist vilanterol in patients with COPD: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.
Vilanterol (GW642444M) (VI) is a novel, inhaled, long-acting β(2) agonist with inherent 24-h activity under development as a once-daily combination therapy with an inhaled corticosteroid for COPD and asthma. This study assessed the dose response, efficacy, and safety of VI at doses of 3 to 50 μg in patients with moderate to severe COPD. ⋯ VI 25 and 50 μg once daily provided both statistically and clinically relevant 24-h improvements in lung function in patients with COPD compared with placebo. All doses of VI had a safety and tolerability profile similar to placebo.
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition of repetitive upper airway collapse, which occurs during sleep. Recent literature has emphasized the role of OSA in contributing to glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. OSA is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease, although definitive data are sparse with regard to the prevention of cardiovascular disease and CPAP therapy. ⋯ The discovery of an ideal biomarker for OSA has the potential to provide information related to diagnosis, severity, prognosis, and response to treatment. In addition, because large-scale randomized controlled trials are both ethically and logistically challenging in assessing hard cardiovascular outcomes, certain biomarkers may be reasonable surrogate outcome measures. This article reviews the literature related to potential biomarkers of OSA with the recognition that an ideal biomarker does not exist at this time.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive, and usually fatal disease, based on a multifaceted and incompletely understood pathogenesis. Some of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of vascular remodeling have been experimentally explored, and it is obvious that alterations of microvessels are involved in IPF. These can, among others, lead to the development of pulmonary hypertension. ⋯ A delicate balance of angiogenic and angiostatic factors regulates vessel homeostasis in normal physiologic conditions in the lungs. Although earlier studies have proposed that IPF is associated with an increase of angiogenesis, there is some more recent evidence that angiogenesis in fibrotic lungs may actually be decreased, causing some controversy in the literature in this area. This review, therefore, discusses the concept of angiogenesis in pulmonary fibrosis and speculates on how the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of IPF might explain the controversial findings about vessel density in fibrotic lungs.