Respirology : official journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology
-
Unclassifiable disease in chronic interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a common and challenging problem but has been insufficiently studied. The 2013 update of the international multidisciplinary classification of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias presented a classification based on observed disease behaviour with the purpose of providing guidance to clinicians in the management of these patients. The aim of this study was to apply the new disease behaviour classification (DBC) and the previously validated ILD-gender age physiology (GAP) score to a cohort of unclassifiable ILD patients and to assess the prognostic value of these two composite approaches. ⋯ The DBC approach showed strong prognostic value in unclassifiable ILD. The DBC and the ILD-GAP were complementary predictors of outcome in unclassifiable ILD.
-
Review Meta Analysis
Radial endobronchial ultrasound for the diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Tissue diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs) can be challenging. In the past, flexible bronchoscopy was commonly performed for this purpose but its diagnostic yield is suboptimal. This has led to the development of new bronchoscopic modalities such as radial endobronchial ultrasound (R-EBUS), electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) and virtual bronchoscopy (VB). ⋯ Overall complication rate was 2.8%. This is the largest meta-analysis performed to date, assessing the performance of R-EBUS for diagnosing PPLs. R-EBUS has a high diagnostic yield (70.6%) with a very low complication rate.
-
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common condition characterized by repetitive upper airway obstruction during sleep. OSA promotes wide intrathoracic pressure swings, intermittent hypoxia and sleep fragmentation. Growing evidence derived from animal models mimicking the oxygen profile observed in patients with OSA as well as clinical studies support that this important sleep-disordered breathing is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. ⋯ In this review, we summarize the potential role of OSA and its components on cardiometabolic disease. We also summarize evidence evaluating the impact of OSA treatment (notably continuous positive airway pressure) on reversing the metabolic deregulation promoted by OSA. Finally, we discuss the research agenda and perspectives for this important research area.
-
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease with poor prognosis and variable clinical course. Although matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) is emerging as an important IPF biomarker, reproducibility across studies is unclear. We aimed to determine whether a previously reported prognostic threshold for MMP-7 was predictive of mortality in an independent cohort of IPF patients. ⋯ This study confirms that MMP-7 concentrations could be used to accurately predict outcomes across cohorts and centres, when similar collection protocols are applied.
-
Observational Study
Clinical significance of differentiating post-intubation and post-tracheostomy tracheal stenosis.
Post-intubation tracheal stenosis (PITS) and post-tracheostomy tracheal stenosis (PTTS) are serious complications in mechanically ventilated patients. Although the aetiologies and mechanisms of PITS and PTTS are quite different, little is known about the clinical impact of differentiating one from the other. ⋯ There were significant differences between PITS and PTTS in terms of patient and stenosis characteristics, treatment modalities and clinical outcomes. Therefore, PITS and PTTS should be considered two different entities.