BMC pulmonary medicine
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Dec 2014
Multicenter Study Observational StudyNon-invasive mechanical ventilation in patients with diffuse interstitial lung diseases.
To evaluate noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in diffuse interstitial lung diseases (DILD) patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) according to baseline radiological patterns and the etiology of ARF. ⋯ NIV treatment should be individualized in DILD patients with ARF according to the etiology, but not the baseline radiological pattern, in order to improve oxygenation.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Dec 2014
Validation of the new COPD assessment test translated into Thai in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The COPD Assessment Test (CAT™) is a new questionnaire that has been developed recently for measuring the COPD patient's health status. It is known to have a good correlation with disease specific health status measured by St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). For the wider application in clinical practice, it has been validated in many countries. We evaluated the reliability and validity of the translated CAT questionnaire for Thai COPD patients. ⋯ The official Thai CAT questionnaire has an acceptable reliability and validity. It can be expected to serve as a short and simple tool for assessment of the health status of Thai COPD patients.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Nov 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyEfficacy and safety of aclidinium bromide/formoterol fumarate fixed-dose combinations compared with individual components and placebo in patients with COPD (ACLIFORM-COPD): a multicentre, randomised study.
Aclidinium/formoterol is a twice-daily (BID) fixed-dose combination (FDC) in development for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The efficacy and safety of aclidinium/formoterol versus monotherapy and placebo in patients with COPD was assessed. ⋯ Both aclidinium/formoterol BID doses significantly improved bronchodilation versus monotherapy, and dyspnoea versus placebo, with no increase in safety risk. Aclidinium/formoterol may be an effective treatment for patients with COPD.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Nov 2014
Upregulation of activin-B and follistatin in pulmonary fibrosis - a translational study using human biopsies and a specific inhibitor in mouse fibrosis models.
Activins are members of the TGF-ß superfamily of growth factors. First, we identified by expression array screening that activin-B and follistatin are upregulated in human idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Next, we wanted to clarify their specific role in lung fibrosis formation. ⋯ The upregulation of activin-B and follistatin in IPF is a novel finding. Our results indicate that activin inhibition is not an efficient tool for antifibrotic therapy, but could be useful in reducing alveolar cellular response to injury. Activin-B and follistatin levels may be useful as biomarkers of IPF.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Oct 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyDoes the 2013 GOLD classification improve the ability to predict lung function decline, exacerbations and mortality: a post-hoc analysis of the 4-year UPLIFT trial.
The 2013 GOLD classification system for COPD distinguishes four stages: A (low symptoms, low exacerbation risk), B (high symptoms, low risk), C (low symptoms, high risk) and D (high symptoms, high risk). Assessment of risk is based on exacerbation history and airflow obstruction, whatever results in a higher risk grouping. The previous system was solely based on airflow obstruction. Earlier studies compared the predictive performance of new and old classification systems with regards to mortality and exacerbations. The objective of this study was to compare the ability of both classifications to predict the number of future (total and severe) exacerbations and mortality in a different patient population, and to add an outcome measure to the comparison: lung function decline. ⋯ The new classification system is a modest step towards a phenotype approach. It is probably an improvement for the prediction of exacerbations, but a deterioration for predicting mortality and lung function decline.