Minerva medica
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Lung volume reduction coil (LVRC) treatment is a minimally-invasive technique planned to achieve an improvement of exercise capacity and pulmonary function in subjects with advanced emphysema and hyperinflation. It has been proposed together with other bronchoscopic lung volume reduction approaches to reduce lung hyperinflation in emphysema as less invasive alternatives to LVRS and are currently under clinical investigation. Following the successful early experiences in previous pilot trials, recent studies allow further investigation into the feasibility, safety and efficacy of LVR coil treatment in a multi-center setting in a larger group of patients. ⋯ The literature on endobronchial coils continues to look promising with an acceptable safety profile, and positive long-term follow-up data are certainly more and more available. However, further well-designed, blinded, placebo (or sham) controlled trials, and even randomized trials against LVRS (lung volume reduction surgery), are needed before routine clinical use can be recommended. This is true not only for endobronchial coils, but also for the whole field of bronchoscopic lung volume reduction.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rare chronic and ultimately fatal disease resulting in an aberrant scarring and thickening of lung tissue. Molecular pathogenetic mechanisms of IPF are still unknown and till now no effective therapy is known to really improve disease's outcome. ⋯ The work is focused on how gene expression analysis can be applied to stratify IPF cases based on their risk of disease progression. Moreover they tried to match genetic and phenotypic profiles in order to predict therapeutic response and patients' prognosis.