Respirology : official journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology
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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are a population of tissue-resident adult progenitor cells that were originally identified in bone marrow, but have now been identified in many organs including the lung. Although their precise role in organ function remains incompletely defined, mounting evidence suggests that they are an important component of the parenchymal progenitor cell niche and orchestrate organ homeostasis and repair following injury. In this review, what is known about MSC biology will be outlined with particular emphasis on lung biology, and the therapeutic potential of MSC-based cell therapy will also be highlighted.
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Whether the therapeutic nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) derived from manual titration is the same as derived from automatic titration is controversial. The purpose of this study was to compare the therapeutic pressure derived from manual titration with automatic titration. ⋯ The results suggest that automatic titration pressure derived from REMstar Auto is usually higher than the pressure derived from manual titration.
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Comparative Study
Effect of a pleural checklist on patient safety in the ultrasound era.
Bedside ultrasound allows direct visualization of pleural collections for thoracentesis and tube thoracostomy. However, there is little information on patient safety improvement methods with this approach. The effect of a checklist on patient safety for bedside ultrasound-guided pleural procedures was evaluated. ⋯ A pleural checklist with systematic scanning and close supervision may further enhance safety of ultrasound-guided procedures. This may also help promote safety while trainees are learning to perform these procedures.
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Review
Integrating the overlap of obstructive lung disease and obstructive sleep apnoea: OLDOSA syndrome.
Obstructive lung diseases (OLD) such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are very prevalent conditions. Disease phenotypes (e.g. chronic bronchitis, emphysema, etc.) often overlap, and significant confusion exists about their optimal nosologic characterization. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is also a common condition that features bidirectional interactions with OLD. ⋯ Possible shared mechanistic links include increased parasympathetic tone, hypoxaemia-related reflex bronchoconstriction/vasoconstriction, irritation of upper airway neural receptors, altered nocturnal neurohormonal secretion, pro-inflammatory mediators, within and inter-breath interactions between upper and lower airways, lung volume-airway dependence, etc. While the term overlap syndrome has been defined as the comorbid association of COPD and OSA, the interaction between asthma and OSA has not been integrated yet nosologically; in this review, the latter will be called alternative overlap syndrome. In an effort to bolster further investigations in this area, an integrated, lumping nomenclature for OSA in the setting of OLD is proposed here--OLDOSA (obstructive lung disease and obstructive sleep apnoea) syndrome.