BMC pulmonary medicine
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
Multicenter StudyConfirmatory spirometry for adults hospitalized with a diagnosis of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation.
Objective measurement of airflow obstruction by spirometry is an essential part of the diagnosis of asthma or COPD. During exacerbations, the feasibility and utility of spirometry to confirm the diagnosis of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are unclear. Addressing these gaps in knowledge may help define the need for confirmatory testing in clinical care and quality improvement efforts. This study was designed to determine the feasibility of spirometry and to determine its utility to confirm the diagnosis in patients hospitalized with a physician diagnosis of asthma or COPD exacerbation. ⋯ Adequate quality spirometry can be obtained in most hospitalized adults with a physician diagnosis of asthma or COPD exacerbation. Confirmatory spirometry could be a useful tool to help reduce overdiagnosis of obstructive lung disease, especially among obese patients.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
The elevation of serum napsin A in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, compared with KL-6, surfactant protein-A and surfactant protein-D.
Napsin A, an aspartic protease, is mainly expressed in alveolar type-II cells and renal proximal tubules and is a putative immunohistochemical marker for pulmonary adenocarcinomas. This study sought to determine whether napsin A could be measured in the serum to evaluate its relationship to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and determine whether renal dysfunction might affect serum napsin A levels. ⋯ These findings suggest that serum napsin A may be a candidate biomarker for IPF.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
Case ReportsIdiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis: consideration of a clinicopathological entity in a series of Japanese patients.
Idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (IPPFE) is a recently reported group of disorders characterized by fibrotic thickening of the pleural and subpleural parenchyma predominantly in the upper lobes. We report five Japanese cases fulfilling the criteria of IPPFE and address whether it should be considered a separate clinicopathologic entity. And this study was an attempt to identify features in common between IPPFE and previously described idiopathic upper lobe fibrosis (IPUF), allowing IPPFE to be considered as a distinct entity in our Japanese series. ⋯ IPPFE deserves to be defined as a separate, original clinicopathologic entity owing to its uniformity and IPPFE has some features in common with previously described idiopathic upper lobe fibrosis (IPUF). Our limited experience with a cohort of 5 subjects suggests that IPPFE can be rapidly progressive.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
Comparative StudyReduced rhinovirus-specific antibodies are associated with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requiring hospitalisation.
Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are often linked to respiratory infections. However, it is unknown if COPD patients who experience frequent exacerbations have impaired humoral immunity. The aim of this study was to determine if antibodies specific for common respiratory pathogens are associated with AECOPD. ⋯ Deficient humoral immunity specific for rhinoviruses is associated with AECOPD requiring hospitalisation, and may partly explain why some COPD patients have an increased exacerbation risk following respiratory viral infections.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
Correlation of respiratory symptoms and spirometric lung patterns in a rural community setting, Sindh, Pakistan: a cross sectional survey.
Symptom-based questionnaires can be a cost effective tool enabling identification and diagnosis of patients with respiratory illnesses in resource limited setting. This study aimed to determine the correlation of respiratory symptoms and spirometric lung patterns and validity of ATS respiratory questionnaire in a rural community setting. ⋯ Symptoms based respiratory questionnaires are a valuable tool for screening of respiratory symptoms in resource poor, rural community setting.