Respiratory medicine
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects 6% of the general population and is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States with severe and very severe disease accounting for 15% and 3% of physician diagnoses of COPD. Guidelines make few recommendations regarding providing the provision of care for the most severe stages of disease, namely Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stages III and IV with chronic respiratory failure. The effectiveness of inhaled drug therapy in very severe patients has not been assessed yet. ⋯ Non-invasive ventilation has been used as a palliative treatment to reduce dyspnoea. Hypoxaemic COPD patients, on long-term oxygen therapy, may show reduced health-related quality of life, cognitive function, and depression. Only a small proportion of patients with severe COPD discuss end-of-life issues with their physicians.
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Respiratory medicine · Aug 2007
Reference values for dynamic and static pulmonary compliance in men.
The aim of the present study was to determine new reference values and predictive variables for dynamic and static pulmonary compliance in men. The investigation was conducted as a prospective study in healthy, non-smoking men with normal pulmonary function parameters including spirometry, bodyplethysmography and CO diffusing capacity. The esophageal pressure method was used to measure dynamic compliance (Cdyn), specific dynamic compliance (Cdyn/ITGV), static compliance (Cstat) and specific static compliance (Cstat/ITGV). ⋯ Lung recoil pressures at all TLC levels significantly decreased with ageing. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the contribution of anthropometric variables to the regression equations of pulmonary compliance was low. With ageing the static pressure-volume curve of the lung shifted to the left without substantial alteration of the slope.
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Respiratory medicine · Aug 2007
Case ReportsNeuroendocrine cell hyperplasia as an unusual form of interstitial lung disease.
Two patients diagnosed with interstitial lung disease (ILD) secondary to pulmonary neuroendocrine cell (PNEC) hyperplasia are presented. ⋯ Two cases of ILD secondary to PNEC hyperplasia are presented, with clinical and radiological findings that might be mistaken for other types of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias. The disease course is described and the possible etiopathogenic role that PNECs might play in the development of lung fibrosis is discussed.
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Respiratory medicine · Aug 2007
Case ReportsMounier-Kuhn syndrome: a rare cause of severe bronchial dilatation with normal pulmonary function test: a case report.
Tracheobronchomegaly (TBM) (Mounier-Kuhn syndrome) is dilatation of the trachea and major bronchi because of atrophy or absence of elastic fibers and smooth muscle cells. We present a case of TBM with normal pulmonary function test (PFT). The patient was a 37-year-old man with increasing productive cough and without fever, wheezes, chest pain, weight loss or any respiratory disease. ⋯ PFT in large airway disorders may be normal while abnormalities may indicate underlying small airway disorder. An underlying small airway disorders is responsible for abnormal reports in PFT of these patients. We may need to re-evaluate the role of PFT within follow-up of patients with large airway disorder.
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Respiratory medicine · Aug 2007
Use of spirometry and patterns of prescribing in COPD in primary care.
To investigate the use and interpretation of spirometry in primary care (PC) in the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to identify the treatment schedules administered. ⋯ Only 58.4% of the cases included had undergone spirometry. Important deficiencies were observed in the interpretation of the results of spirometry. These difficulties may influence the low implementation of treatment guidelines in COPD in PC.