Archivos de bronconeumología
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Chest ultrasonography is a useful tool for assessing disease activity in the peripheral lung parenchyma, pleura, chest wall, diaphragm, and mediastinum. Ultrasound imaging also provides highly useful guidance in invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The main advantages of this imaging technology are the absence of ionizing radiation and the possibility of real-time bedside applications. The chief indications and limitations of chest ultrasonography and the principal sonographic signs are reviewed.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchiectasias are two of the most frequent and underdiagnosed diseases of the airways. The association between these two entities can be established from different points of view. ⋯ On the other hand, recent studies have observed an association between COPD and bronchiectasias, given that more than 50% of patients with moderate-severe COPD show bronchiectasias unexplained by other causes that could provoke an excess of bronchial inflammation, as well as a higher number of exacerbations, possibly mediated by an increase in bronchial colonization-infection by potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Lastly, some physiopathologic hypotheses that remain to be demonstrated suggest a causal relation between the two diseases in which COPD, especially severe forms, would constitute a risk factor for the formation of bronchiectasias.
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The prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is increasing worldwide, mainly due to the increase in women. In developed countries, COPD in women is mainly a result of exposure to tobacco smoke and in developing countries to inhalation of biomass combustion products. ⋯ Moreover, COPD in women shows certain differential features, such as a greater expression of aspects related to perception (dyspnea and health-related quality of life), a high prevalence of malnutrition, anxiety and depression, and a distinct distribution of emphysema from that in men. Better phenotypical characterization of COPD in women would allow its impact on the health system to be more accurately evaluated and more individualized therapeutic strategies to be designed.