Resp Care
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We report the characteristics of a centralized spirometry quality-control program developed for a population-based survey of the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 5 cities: São Paulo, Brazil; México City, México; Montevideo, Uruguay; Santiago, Chile; and Caracas, Venezuela (the Latin American Project for the Investigation of Obstructive Lung Diseases [PLATINO]). ⋯ Standardization of equipment, training, and supervision of spirometry is essential in a multinational spirometry survey. Centralized quality control can be done via e-mail with good reliability and low cost.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Spirometric correlates of dyspnea improvement among emergency department patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation.
To examine whether change in slow vital capacity (SVC) correlates to dyspnea improvement during emergency department (ED) treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation. ⋯ Increase in SVC significantly correlated with dyspnea improvement among ED patients with moderate-to-severe COPD exacerbation. Change in SVC merits consideration when evaluating therapeutic response during COPD exacerbation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Patient comfort during pressure support and volume controlled-continuous mandatory ventilation.
Pressure-support ventilation (PSV) is more comfortable than volume controlled-continuous mandatory ventilation (VC-CMV) in acute hypercapnic respiratory failure, in patients undergoing noninvasive ventilation. Physiologic measurements of patient status have been compared in PSV and VC-CMV in endotracheally intubated patients, but patient perception of comfort has not been measured in this population. ⋯ On average the patients felt more comfortable during PSV than during VC-CMV or PRVC, so PSV may be the preferred mode for awake intubated patients.