Respiratory medicine
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Respiratory medicine · Mar 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyOnce-daily tiotropium Respimat(®) 5 μg is an efficacious 24-h bronchodilator in adults with symptomatic asthma.
Once-daily tiotropium Respimat(®) 5 μg is an efficacious add-on therapy to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) with or without long-acting β2-agonists in patients with symptomatic asthma. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the dosing regimen of tiotropium (once- versus twice-daily), delivered via the Respimat(®) SoftMist™ inhaler, affected 24-h bronchodilator efficacy and safety versus placebo Respimat(®) in patients with asthma who were symptomatic despite medium-dose ICS therapy. ⋯ Lung function improvements with tiotropium Respimat(®) add-on to medium-dose ICS were sustained and similar for once-daily 5 μg and twice-daily 2.5 μg, supporting tiotropium Respimat(®) 5 μg as a once-daily bronchodilator that provides efficacy over the whole 24-h dosing interval in patients with symptomatic asthma. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01152450.
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Respiratory medicine · Mar 2015
Comparative StudyBroader criteria of undifferentiated connective tissue disease in idiopathic interstitial pneumonias.
Kinder et al. proposed a broader definition of undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) and reported that the entity of nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) is a lung manifestation of this more broadly defined UCTD. However, a retrospective study did not support their findings and its clinical significance remains unclear. ⋯ A diagnosis of UCTD was not useful in discriminating NSIP or in predicting disease progression and prognosis in our cohort of IIPs. Histopathological UIP pattern was an independent predictor for mortality irrespective of a diagnosis of UCTD.
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Respiratory medicine · Mar 2015
Comparative StudyAirway wall thickness of allergic asthma caused by weed pollen or house dust mite assessed by computed tomography.
Little was known about Airway wall thickness of asthma patients with different allergen allergy. So we explored the possible difference of Airway wall thickness of asthma patients mono-sensitized to weed pollen or HDM using high-resolution computed tomography. ⋯ There are differences between HDM mono-sensitized subjects and weed pollen mono-sensitized subjects, not only in airway wall thickness, but also small airway obstruction.
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Respiratory medicine · Feb 2015
Multicenter Study Observational StudyReal-life effectiveness of smoking-cessation treatments in general practice clinics in Denmark. The Escape Smoke project.
The smoking prevalence has not decreased in the last years in Denmark. General practice (GP) offers smoking cessation (SC) treatment. Studies of real-life effectiveness of daily practice SC-activities from the GP-setting opposed to efficacy results from randomized clinical trials are few. The study aim was to evaluate the real-life effectiveness of SC-treatments for daily smokers among Danish GP-clinics. ⋯ Smoking cessation in Danish GP-clinics with some prior SC-activity can result in rather high long-term quit rates, especially when combining counseling and prescription-based SC-medicine. The effectiveness of prescription-based SC-medications versus NRT in the general population merits further investigation.
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Respiratory medicine · Feb 2015
Multicenter StudyCharacterisation of the frequent exacerbator phenotype in COPD patients in a large UK primary care population.
The 'frequent exacerbator' is recognised as an important phenotype in COPD. Current understanding about this phenotype comes from prospective longitudinal clinical trials in secondary/tertiary care with little information reported in primary care populations. ⋯ Although COPD exacerbations occur across all grades of disease severity, female patients with high dyspnoea scores, more severely impaired lung function and co-morbidities are at greatest risk. Elderly patients, with severely impaired lung function, high mMRC scores and osteoporosis are associated with experience of severe exacerbations requiring hospitalisation.