Respiratory care
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The addition of heated humidification to CPAP has been shown to improve nasal adverse effects in subjects with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, current data regarding improvement in CPAP adherence is conflicting. Furthermore, there are no data from a tropical climate area with a high humidity level. ⋯ Even in a tropical climate area, CPAP adherence and quality of life appeared to improve when heated humidification was employed in subjects with moderate to severe OSA with nasopharyngeal symptoms post-split-night polysomnography. The improvement may be related to a reduction in the dry throat/sore throat symptom.
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COPD is a high-mortality disease and projected to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030. Our aim was to evaluate predictors of 3-y mortality and factors associated with early (1 y) and late (second and third year) mortality in subjects with severe COPD who completed a pulmonary rehabilitation program. ⋯ There is a high mortality rate in late-stage patients with COPD. The most relevant factors associated with mortality were lung cancer, respiratory failure and noninvasive ventilation, severe exacerbations with hospitalization, and lower functional exercise capacity.
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A pneumatic tube system (PTS) is a cost-effective, rapid transport modality that utilizes induced pressure changes. We evaluated the clinical importance of 2 transport modalities, human courier and PTS, for blood gas specimens. ⋯ The difference in the PO2 and PaCO2 of paired (walked vs tubed) arterial and venous blood gas specimens demonstrated a slight bias. PaCO2 values demonstrated the greatest bias, however not clinically important. Thus, PTS transport does not impact clinical interpretations of blood gas values.