Rev Port Pneumol
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Failure of sputum smear and/or culture conversion after 2 months of tuberculosis (TB) treatment has been considered a predictor of patient infectivity and treatment failure. We aimed to identify the factors associated with delayed sputum smear and culture conversion in patients with pulmonary TB who were given anti-TB treatment. ⋯ Delayed sputum smear and culture conversion occurred in about one third of patients. Older age, male gender, and higher bacillary load were independently associated with delayed smear conversion. Bilateral radiological involvement and higher colony count were independently associated with delayed culture conversion.
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Editorial Comment
From heart to bad sleep-lessons for sleep apnoea in times of crisis.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Weaning by gradual pressure support (PS) reduction without an initial spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) versus PS-supported SBT: a pilot study.
Studies on weaning strategies have yielded conflicting results regarding the superiority of different methods. The aim of this RCT was to compare the efficacy of gradual pressure support (PS) reduction without an initial spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) with PS-supported SBT. ⋯ Gradual reduction of PS without an initial SBT was found to be associated with better outcomes compared to once daily PS-supported SBT.
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Prolonged stay in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) can cause muscle weakness, physical deconditioning, recurrent symptoms, mood alterations and poor quality of life. Physiotherapy is probably the only treatment likely to increase in the short- and long-term care of the patients admitted to these units. ⋯ To manage these patients, integrated programs dealing with both whole-body physical therapy and pulmonary care are needed. There is still limited scientific evidence to support such a comprehensive approach to all critically ill patients; therefore we need randomised studies with solid clinical short- and long-term outcome measures.