Annals of the American Thoracic Society
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Multicenter Study
Multiple-Breath Washout Outcomes Are Sensitive to Inflammation and Infection in Children with Cystic Fibrosis.
The lung clearance index is a measure of ventilation distribution derived from the multiple-breath washout technique. The lung clearance index is increased in the presence of lower respiratory tract inflammation and infection in infants with cystic fibrosis; however, the associations during the preschool years are unknown. ⋯ These data suggest that the lung clearance index may be a useful surveillance tool for monitoring the presence and extent of lower airway inflammation and infection in preschool children with cystic fibrosis.
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Sleep disturbance during intensive care unit (ICU) admission is common and severe. Sleep disturbance has been observed in survivors of critical illness even after transfer out of the ICU. Not only is sleep important to overall health and well being, but patients after critical illness are also in a physiologically vulnerable state. Understanding how sleep disturbance impacts recovery from critical illness after hospital discharge is therefore clinically meaningful. ⋯ Sleep disturbance is common in critically ill patients up to 12 months after hospital discharge. Both subjective and objective studies, however, suggest that sleep disturbance improves over time. More research is needed to understand and optimize sleep in recovery from critical illness.
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Exploration of FVC as it relates to mortality in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic, progressive, and ultimately fatal parenchymal lung disease, is important both clinically and to the current drug development paradigm. We evaluated the association between FVC decline and mortality in what is to our knowledge the largest well-characterized placebo cohort to date. Additionally, we sought to explore the risk of death caused by acute exacerbations and to further validate previously identified baseline predictors of mortality. ⋯ Our analyses validate the importance of baseline FVC, diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide, age, and smoking status as predictors of mortality and strengthen the association between decline in FVC and exacerbations with death, verifying a decline in FVC as an appropriate endpoint in IPF drug development. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00514683, NCT01335464, NCT01335477, NCT00287729, NCT00287716, and NCT01366209).
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Tracheobronchomalacia is a common comorbidity in neonates with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. However, the effect of tracheobronchomalacia on the clinical course of bronchopulmonary dysplasia is not well-understood. ⋯ Tracheobronchomalacia is common in neonates with bronchopulmonary dysplasia who undergo bronchoscopy and is associated with longer and more complicated hospitalizations.