American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · May 1997
Effect of acute hypercapnia on diaphragmatic and limb muscle contractility.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether acute hypercapnia depresses limb muscle and diaphragmatic contractility. Twelve subjects breathed 8% CO2 for 20 min on two separate occasions. On one occasion, twitch transdiaphragmatic pressure (Pdi) was obtained during both cervical magnetic and transcutaneous stimulation before and 2, 10, and 30 min after CO2 breathing. ⋯ To ensure that changes in diaphragmatic contractility were not missed by our twitch measurements, Pdi was measured during bilateral transcutaneous phrenic nerve stimulation at 10 Hz in four subjects. Again, Pdi during 10 Hz stimulation was not significantly different from baseline at any time after CO2 breathing. In conclusion, (1) acute moderate hypercapnia mildly depresses limb muscle contractility, and (2) acute moderate hypercapnia did not produce significant changes in diaphragmatic contractility.
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Ultrasound has been used to evaluate diaphragm thickness in the zone of apposition of the diaphragm to the rib cage. The purpose of this study was to determine if ultrasonography could distinguish between a paralyzed and normally functioning diaphragm. We predicted that a paralyzed diaphragm would be atrophic and not shorten, therefore it would be thin and not thicken during inspiration. ⋯ In patients with unilateral paralysis, t(di) and delta t(di) for the paralyzed hemidiaphragm were significantly less than those values for the normally functioning hemidiaphragm (1.7 +/- 0.2 mm versus 2.7 +/- 0.5 mm [mean + SD] p < 0.01 for t(di), and -8.5 +/- 13% versus 65 +/- 26% [p < 0.001] for delta t(di)). The t(di) and delta t(di) for patients with bilateral diaphragm paralysis were significantly less than those values for the healthy volunteers (1.8 +/- 0.2 versus 2.8 +/- 0.4 and -1 +/- 15% versus 37 +/- 9% for t(di) and delta t(di), respectively) (p < 0.001). We conclude that ultrasound measurements of t(di) and delta t(di) can be used to determine if a diaphragm is paralyzed and confirm our predictions that a chronically paralyzed diaphragm is atrophic and does not thicken during inspiration.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · May 1997
Cigarette smoke induces interleukin-8 release from human bronchial epithelial cells.
Cigarette smoking causes the development of chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We hypothesized that exposure to cigarette smoke might initiate release of inflammatory mediators by bronchial epithelial cells. To evaluate this, the effect of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on IL-8 release from cultured human bronchial epithelial cells was examined. ⋯ IL-8 concentration was greater in the proximal, bronchial samples than in distal, alveolar samples, and IL-8 in BAL from smokers was higher than in BAL from nonsmokers. There was a significant correlation between IL-8 concentration and neutrophil count in bronchial samples of BAL fluid. These data support the hypothesis that exposure to cigarette smoke may induce bronchial epithelial cells to release IL-8 and that this may contribute to airway inflammation in smokers.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Apr 1997
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialBovine surfactant therapy for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Lung surfactant is deficient in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We performed a randomized, prospective, controlled, open-label clinical study of administration of a bovine surfactant to patients with ARDS to obtain preliminary information about its safety and efficacy. Patients received either surfactant by endotracheal instillation in addition to standard therapy or standard therapy only. ⋯ Mortality in the same group of patients was 18.8%, as compared with 43.8% in the control group (p = 0.075). The surfactant instillation was generally well tolerated, and no safety concerns were identified. This pilot study presents preliminary evidence that surfactant might have therapeutic benefit for patients with ARDS, and provides rationale for further clinical study of this agent.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Apr 1997
Interpreting small differences in functional status: the Six Minute Walk test in chronic lung disease patients.
Functional status measurements are often difficult to interpret because small differences may be statistically significant but not clinically significant. How much does the Six Minute Walk test (6MW) need to differ to signify a noticeable difference in walking ability for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)? We studied individuals with stable COPD (n = 112, mean age = 67 yr, mean FEV1 = 975 ml) and estimated the smallest difference in 6MW distances that was associated with a noticeable difference in patients' subjective comparison ratings of their walking ability. ⋯ Distances needed to differ by 54 m for the average patient to stop rating themselves as "about the same" and start rating themselves as either "a little bit better" or "a little bit worse" (95% CI: 37 to 71 m). We suggest that differences in functional status can be statistically significant but below the threshold at which patients notice a difference in themselves relative to others; an awareness of the smallest difference in walking distance that is noticeable to patients may help clinicians interpret the effectiveness of symptomatic treatments for COPD.