Respiratory medicine
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Respiratory medicine · Jan 2011
Reference values for paediatric pulmonary function testing: The Utrecht dataset.
Since populations evolve, measurement protocols and equipment improve and analysis techniques progress, there is an ongoing need to reassess reference data for pulmonary function tests. Furthermore, reference values for total lung capacity and carbon monoxide diffusion capacity are scarcely available in children. We aimed to provide updated reference equations for most commonly used pulmonary function indices in Caucasian children. ⋯ These new paediatric reference equations provide accurate estimates of the range of normality for most commonly used pulmonary function indices, resulting in less underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis of pulmonary diseases.
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Respiratory medicine · Jan 2011
Gender and skeletal muscle characteristics in subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The influence of gender in the clinical expression of COPD has received important attention. Limited information exists regarding gender differences in the skeletal muscle characteristics in COPD subjects. The present study was aimed to determine the differences in the skeletal muscle characteristics in men and women with and without COPD. ⋯ Female and male with COPD have similar skeletal muscle characteristics; it is possible that the disease blurs the gender differences. On the other hand, there seems to be fewer differences in muscle characteristics between older men and women, perhaps due to lower male testosterone levels and physical inactivity.
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Respiratory medicine · Jan 2011
Transcutaneous monitoring as a replacement for arterial PCO(2) monitoring during nocturnal non-invasive ventilation.
Continuous, non-invasive assessment of alveolar ventilation achieved by transcutaneous PCO(2) (PtcCO(2)) monitoring is clearly superior to intermittent, invasive blood gas analyses in patients receiving nocturnal non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV), but the reliability and accuracy of PtcCO(2)-monitoring is still disputed. The present study was aimed at investigating the capability of modern PtcCO(2)-monitoring to reliably assess alveolar ventilation during nocturnal NPPV. ⋯ Modern PtcCO(2)-monitoring is reliable, accurate and robust. Since PtcCO(2)-monitoring is also non-invasive, does not disrupt sleep quality and provides a more complete picture of alveolar ventilation than intermittent capillary PaCO(2), PtcCO(2)-monitoring should become the preferred technique for assessing alveolar ventilation during nocturnal NPPV.