Annals of the American Thoracic Society
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Handgrip Strength in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Associations with Acute Exacerbations and Body Composition.
Handgrip strength (HGS) predicts mortality in the elderly, but its determinants and clinical significance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been defined. ⋯ In ever-smokers with COPD, HGS is associated with computed tomography markers of body composition and airway thickness, independent of body mass index and emphysema. Higher HGS is associated with lower exacerbation frequency.
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Patient participation in medical decision-making is widely advocated, but outcomes are inconsistent. ⋯ Among patients undergoing longitudinal nodule surveillance, a majority had a preference for having active roles in decision-making. Interestingly, during some encounters, patients did not know what their role was or that a decision was being made. Role concordance was associated with greater patient-reported satisfaction and quality of medical care, but not with improved knowledge. Patient participation in decision-making may influence perceptions of care; however, clinicians may need to focus on other communication strategies or domains to improve patient knowledge and health outcomes.
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Strong evidence supports use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for patients with respiratory distress from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure (strong evidence conditions [SECs]). Despite unclear benefits of NIV for other causes of acute respiratory failure, utilization for conditions with weaker evidence is increasing, despite evidence demonstrating higher mortality for patients who suffer NIV failure (progression from NIV to invasive mechanical ventilation [IMV])) compared with being treated initially with IMV. ⋯ Most patients who received NIV did not have conditions with strong supporting evidence for its use with wide institutional variation in patient selection for NIV. Surprisingly, we found that all patients, even those without an SEC, benefited from admission to hospitals with greater evidence-based utilization of NIV, suggesting a "hospital effect" that is synergistic with patient selection.
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Usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) is the histopathologic hallmark of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Although UIP can be detected by high-resolution computed tomography of the chest, the results are frequently inconclusive, and pathology from transbronchial biopsy (TBB) has poor sensitivity. Surgical lung biopsy may be necessary for a definitive diagnosis. ⋯ We demonstrate proof of principle that genomic analysis and machine learning improves the utility of TBB for the diagnosis of UIP, with greater sensitivity and specificity than pathology in TBB alone. Combining multiple individual subject samples results in increased test accuracy over single sample testing. This approach requires validation in an independent cohort of subjects before application in the clinic.
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Observational Study
An Observational Study of Outcomes and Tolerances in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis Initiated on Lumacaftor/Ivacaftor.
In July 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved lumacaftor/ivacaftor for use in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). This drug targets the primary defect in the CFTR protein that is conferred by the F508del CFTR mutation. ⋯ This study highlights the prevalence of adverse effects in a CF population newly exposed to lumacaftor/ivacaftor and demonstrates a relatively high rate of drug intolerance.