Multidiscip Resp Med
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Multidiscip Resp Med · Mar 2013
Diagnosis of cutaneous sarcoidosis; clinical and the prognostic significance of skin lesions.
Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease characterized by the formation of noncaseating granulomas in various tissues. Cutaneous involvement occurs in 20 to 35 percent of the patients and may be the initial manifestation of the disease. Our study was performed to discriminate the clinical, laboratory, and prognostic differences between patients with specific and nonspecific cutaneous involvement. The second aim was to asses the diagnostic usefulness of punch biopsy in sarcoidosis. ⋯ Specific cutaneous lesions along with BAL lymphocytosis, high CD4/CD8 ratio and elevated serum ACE levels may be predictors of progressive disease in sarcoidosis. Punch biopsy is a simple technique with a high diagnostic yield and a low complication rate for cutaneous sarcoidosis.
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Multidiscip Resp Med · Mar 2013
Use of positive expiratory pressure during six minute walk test: results in patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is widely used because it is both simple and reliable as a measure of exercise capacity. Individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) usually show a limited capacity to perform exercise. ⋯ There are few studies demonstrating that PEP devices enhance exercise capacity in COPD patients. Our results has been obtained using only a low positive expiratory pressure (5 cmH2O). In our opinion the strength of this study is the simplicity and the lower cost when compared to other devices and approaches. The study was registered as Chi CTR-ORC-12002173 at http://www.chictr.org.