BMC pulmonary medicine
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Comparative StudyA comparison of muscle strength and endurance, exercise capacity, fatigue perception and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and healthy subjects: a cross-sectional study.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has significant systemic effects that substantially impact quality of life and survival. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare peripheral muscle strength and endurance, exercise capacity, fatigue perception and quality of life between patients with COPD and healthy subjects. ⋯ Pulmonary functions, peripheral muscle strength and endurance, exercise capacity and quality of life were adversely affected in patients with COPD. There are greater effect of fatigue on psychosocial functioning and general daily life activities and effect of cough on the quality of life in patients with COPD. This study supports the idea that COPD patients must be evaluated in a comprehensive manner for planning pulmonary rehabilitation programs.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Exhaled breath profiling for diagnosing acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a common, devastating complication of critical illness that is characterized by pulmonary injury and inflammation. The clinical diagnosis may be improved by means of objective biological markers. Electronic nose (eNose) technology can rapidly and non-invasively provide breath prints, which are profiles of volatile metabolites in the exhaled breath. We hypothesized that breath prints could facilitate accurate diagnosis of ARDS in intubated and ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients. ⋯ An electronic nose can rapidly and non-invasively discriminate between patients with and without ARDS with modest accuracy. Diagnostic accuracy increased when only moderate and severe ARDS patients were considered. This implicates that breath analysis may allow for rapid, bedside detection of ARDS, especially if our findings are reproduced using continuous exhaled breath profiling.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Patterns and determinants of COPD-related healthcare utilization by severity of airway obstruction in Korea.
We investigated patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to analyze patterns and identify determinants of healthcare use, according to the severity of airflow obstruction. We used retrospective cohort data from a combination of the 4th Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (KNHANES) and Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) claims. ⋯ This study ascertained marked underdiagnosed COPD. Although the percentage of prescribed medication used to treat COPD increased with the severity of the COPD, medications primarily prescribed such as oral theophylline or oral corticosteroids are inappropriate for first-line COPD treatment.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Ventilatory function and cardiovascular disease risk factors: a cross-sectional study in young adults.
The association between impaired lung function and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors has been shown in adults. However, there is little evidence of such an association in young adults, particularly from South America, where the burden of CVD and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is as high as that observed in more developed countries. We therefore investigated the relation between CVD risk factors including metabolic syndrome (MS), and lung function status in young adults from Chile. ⋯ In this population-based study of young adults, a poorer ventilatory function was associated with many CVD risk factors. Endeavours to understand better causality issues of such associations are warranted.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Comparative StudyDetermination of respiratory gas flow by electrical impedance tomography in an animal model of mechanical ventilation.
A recent method determines regional gas flow of the lung by electrical impedance tomography (EIT). The aim of this study is to show the applicability of this method in a porcine model of mechanical ventilation in healthy and diseased lungs. Our primary hypothesis is that global gas flow measured by EIT can be correlated with spirometry. Our secondary hypothesis is that regional analysis of respiratory gas flow delivers physiologically meaningful results. ⋯ We conclude that the presented method is able to determine global respiratory gas flow of the lung in different phases of the respiratory cycle. Additionally, it delivers meaningful insight into regional pulmonary characteristics, i.e. the regional ability of the lung to take up and to release air.