BMC pulmonary medicine
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialA phase 1 study evaluating the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of repeat dosing with a human IL-13 antibody (CAT-354) in subjects with asthma.
IL-13 has been implicated in the development of airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness. This study investigated the multiple-dose pharmacokinetics and safety profile of human anti-IL-13 antibody (CAT-354) in adults with asthma. ⋯ CAT-354 exhibited linear pharmacokinetics and an acceptable safety profile. These findings suggest that at the doses tested, CAT-354 can be safely administered in multiple doses to patients with asthma.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2010
Prescribing patterns of asthma controller therapy for children in UK primary care: a cross-sectional observational study.
Asthma management guidelines recommend a stepwise approach to instituting and adjusting anti-inflammatory controller therapy for children with asthma. The objective of this retrospective observational study was to describe prescribing patterns of asthma controller therapies for children in a primary care setting. ⋯ Physician classifications of asthma severity did not always correspond to guideline recommendations, as leukotriene receptor antagonists were rarely used and high-dose ICS or add-on LABA was prescribed even in intermittent and mild disease. In UK primary care, monotherapy with ICS is the most common controller therapy at all levels of asthma severity.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2010
Plasma levels of surfactant protein D and KL-6 for evaluation of lung injury in critically ill mechanically ventilated patients.
Preventing ventilator-associated lung injury (VALI) has become pivotal in mechanical ventilation of patients with acute lung injury (ALI) or its more severe form, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In the present study we investigated whether plasma levels of lung-specific biological markers can be used to evaluate lung injury in patients with ALI/ARDS and patients without lung injury at onset of mechanical ventilation. ⋯ Plasma levels of SP-D and KL-6 rise with potentially injurious ventilator settings, and thus may serve as biological markers of VALI in patients with ALI/ARDS.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2010
ReviewImipenem resistance of Pseudomonas in pneumonia: a systematic literature review.
Pneumonia, and particularly nosocomial (NP) and ventilator-associated pneumonias (VAP), results in high morbidity and costs. NPs in particular are likely to be caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), ~20% of which in observational studies are resistant to imipenem. We sought to identify the burden of PA imipenem resistance in pneumonia. ⋯ In the 15 years of RCTs of imipenem for pneumonia, PA imipenem resistance rates are high, and PA clinical success and microbiologic eradication rates are directionally lower for imipenem than for comparators. Conversely, initial and treatment-emergent resistance is more likely with the imipenem than the comparator regimens.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2010
ReviewAn integrative review of systematic reviews related to the management of breathlessness in respiratory illnesses.
Breathlessness is a debilitating and distressing symptom in a wide variety of diseases and still a difficult symptom to manage. An integrative review of systematic reviews of non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions for breathlessness in non-malignant disease was undertaken to identify the current state of clinical understanding of the management of breathlessness and highlight promising interventions that merit further investigation. ⋯ More research should focus in the future on the management of breathlessness in respiratory diseases other than asthma and COPD. In addition, pharmacological treatments do not completely manage breathlessness and have an added burden of side effects. It is therefore important to focus more research on promising non-pharmacological interventions.