BMC pulmonary medicine
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
Comparative StudyChanges in healthcare utilization and costs associated with sildenafil therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension: a retrospective cohort study.
Little is known concerning the degree to which initiation of sildenafil for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) impacts patterns of healthcare utilization and costs. ⋯ The cost of sildenafil therapy may be partially offset by reductions in other healthcare costs.
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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
Early intravenous unfractionated heparin and outcome in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome: a retrospective propensity matched cohort study.
Acute lung injury (ALI) is characterized by a pro-coagulant state. Heparin is an anticoagulant with anti-inflammatory properties. Unfractionated heparin has been found to be protective in experimental models of ALI. We hypothesized that an intravenous therapeutic dose of unfractionated heparin would favorably influence outcome of critically ill patients diagnosed with ALI. ⋯ Administration of therapeutic doses of intravenous unfractionated heparin was not associated with reduced mortality in critically ill patients diagnosed with ALI. Heparin treatment did not increase transfusion requirements. These results may help in the design of prospective trials evaluating the use of heparin as adjunctive treatment for ALI.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2012
25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency, exacerbation frequency and human rhinovirus exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency is associated with COPD and increased susceptibility to infection in the general population. ⋯ Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in COPD are not associated with frequent exacerbations and do not increase susceptibility to HRV exacerbations. Independent of day length, patients who spend less time outdoors have lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration.
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is becoming increasingly prevalent in North America and has been described in association with specific chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases. In primary care, where the prevalence of co-occurring chronic conditions is very high, the potential association with OSA is unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between OSA and 1) the presence and severity of multimorbidity (multiple co-occurring chronic conditions), and 2) subcategories of multimorbidity. ⋯ This study showed that severe OSA is associated with severe multimorbidity and sub-scores of multimorbidity. These results do not allow any causal inference. More research is required to confirm these associations. However, primary care providers should be aware of these potential associations and investigate OSA when deemed appropriate.