Respiratory care
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Radiotherapy for breast cancer has been implicated in the development of bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP). Patients may be asymptomatic or may have pulmonary and constitutional symptoms that are moderate or severe. Postradiotherapy BOOP usually develops during the 12 months after completion of radiotherapy and is characterized by ground-glass opacities in the radiation-exposed lung and frequently in the non-irradiated lung. ⋯ Postradiotherapy BOOP in women with breast cancer occurs at a rate of 1.0-3.0% and may occur in women with immune system dysfunction and genetic mutations.
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In this study, we aimed to validate the agreement between pulmonary function measurements obtained with a portable spirometer and measurements obtained with conventional spirometry in Chinese pediatric and adult populations. ⋯ The portable spirometer is an alternative to the conventional device for the measurement of pulmonary function. Compared with the conventional device, the portable spirometer is expected to provide convenient, operational, and financial advantages.
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Assisted coughing via mechanical in-exsufflation (MI-E) is a first-line treatment for secretion management in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with unassisted CPF < 4.25 L/s. Some devices enable oscillations to be added to MI-E (MI-E+O). We sought to determine whether adding oscillations to MI-E enables a reduction in the use of invasive secretion management procedures (ie, bronchoscopy or tracheostomy) in subjects with ALS. ⋯ Adding oscillations to MI-E did not enable a reduction in the need to perform invasive procedures for secretion management in subjects with ALS.
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Review Meta Analysis
Probiotics for the Prevention of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common and serious complication of mechanical ventilation. We conducted a meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of probiotics for VAP prevention in patients who received mechanical ventilation. ⋯ The meta-analysis results indicated that the administration of probiotics significantly reduced the incidence of VAP. Furthermore, our findings need to be verified in large-scale, well-designed, randomized, multi-center trials.