Annals of the American Thoracic Society
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Multicenter Study
Mechanical ventilation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. An international survey.
In patients with severe, acute respiratory failure undergoing venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO), the optimal strategy for mechanical ventilation is unclear. ⋯ Although ventilation practices in patients supported by VV-ECMO vary across ELSO centers internationally, the majority of centers used a strategy that targeted lung-protective thresholds and prioritized weaning VV-ECMO over mechanical ventilation.
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Multicenter Study
Variation in the percent of emphysema-like lung in a healthy, nonsmoking multiethnic sample. The MESA lung study.
Computed tomography (CT)-based lung density is used to quantitate the percentage of emphysema-like lung (hereafter referred to as percent emphysema), but information on its distribution among healthy nonsmokers is limited. ⋯ Similar to lung function, percent emphysema varies substantially by demographic factors and body size among healthy never-smokers. The presented reference equations will assist in defining abnormal values for percent emphysema and total lung volume on CT scans, although validation is pending.
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Multiple causes for air trapping as identified by expiratory computed tomography (CT) have been reported, but a unified evaluation schema has never been proposed. ⋯ A variety of conditions can cause air trapping. Associated imaging findings can narrow the differential diagnosis.
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The Global Burden of Disease Study suggests almost 3.5 million people die as a consequence of household air pollution every year. Respiratory diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia in children are strongly associated with exposure to household air pollution. Smoke from burning biomass fuels for cooking, heating, and lighting is the main contributor to high household air pollution levels in low-income countries like Malawi. A greater understanding of biomass fuel use in Malawi should enable us to address household air pollution-associated communicable and noncommunicable diseases more effectively. ⋯ This large cross-sectional study has identified extensive use of biomass fuels in a typical sub-Saharan Africa periurban population in which women and people of lower socioeconomic status are disproportionately affected. Biomass fuel use is likely to be a major driver of existing communicable respiratory disease and the emerging noncommunicable disease (especially respiratory and cardiovascular) epidemic in this region. Our data will help inform the rationale for specific intervention studies and the development of appropriately targeted public health strategies to tackle this important and poverty-related global health problem.