The European respiratory journal : official journal of the European Society for Clinical Respiratory Physiology
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We aimed to determine the coverage and yield of tuberculosis contact investigation, and compliance with guidelines, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Data were extracted from records on contacts of pulmonary tuberculosis patients at the Public Health Service (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) from 2008 to 2011. Additional data were obtained from the national tuberculosis register. ⋯ Starting treatment was associated with Dutch nationality (aOR 2.6, 95% CI 1.2-5.4) and being a close contact (aOR 10.5, 95% CI 1.5-70.7). Treatment completion was achieved by 129 (91%) of the 142 contacts who started treatment. Two areas for improvement were identified: further expanding LTBI screening, particularly among BCG-vaccinated contacts and contacts of sputum smear-negative index patients, and expanding preventive treatment among contacts with LTBI.
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Meta Analysis
Identification of intermediate-risk patients with acute symptomatic pulmonary embolism.
The identification of normotensive patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) at high risk of adverse PE-related clinical events (i.e. intermediate-risk group) is a major challenge. We combined individual patient data from six studies involving 2874 normotensive patients with PE. We developed a prognostic model for intermediate-risk PE based on the clinical presentation and the assessment of right ventricular dysfunction and myocardial injury. ⋯ We used these variables to construct a multidimensional seven-point risk index; the odds ratio for complications per one-point increase in the score was 1.55 (95% CI 1.43-1.68; p<0.001). The model identified three stages (I, II and III) with 30-day PE-related complication rates of 4.2%, 10.8% and 29.2%, respectively. In conclusion, a simple grading system may assist clinicians in identifying intermediate-risk PE.
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Noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular, metabolic and respiratory diseases, among others, are the major medical challenge of the 21st century. Most noncommunicable diseases are related to the ageing process and often co-occur in the same individual. However, it is unclear whether the index disease is somehow influencing the development of the other ones (comorbidity) or whether all of them (including the index disease) simply represent the clinical expression of pathological ageing (multimorbidity). ⋯ A new field of research, known as systems biology if applied to model systems or network medicine if applied to human beings, has emerged over the past decade or so, to address biological complexity in a holistic, integrated way. It offers, therefore, great potential to decipher the relationship between ageing, COPD and comorbidities/multimorbidities. In this State of the Art review we present the basic concepts of systems biology, use some examples to illustrate the potential of network medicine to address complex medical problems, and review some recent publications that show how a systems-based research strategy can contribute to improve our understanding of multimorbidity and age-related respiratory diseases.
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The aim of the study was to investigate the prognostic value of right heart catheterisation variables measured during exercise. 55 incident patients with idiopathic, familial or anorexigen-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) underwent right heart catheterisation at rest and during exercise and 6-min walk testing before PAH treatment initiation. Patients were treated according to recommendations within the next 2 weeks. Right heart catheterisation was repeated 3-5 months into the PAH treatment in 20 patients. ⋯ Change in 6-min walk distance from baseline to 3-5 months under PAH treatment was highly correlated with change in exercise cardiac index (r=0.746, p<0.001). The most significant baseline covariates associated with survival were change in systolic pulmonary artery pressure from rest to exercise and exercise cardiac index (hazard ratio 0.56 (95% CI 0.37-0.86) and 0.14 (95% CI 0.05-0.43), respectively). Change in pulmonary haemodynamics during exercise is an important tool for assessing disease severity and may help devise optimal treat-to-target strategies.