Thorax
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The British Thoracic Society guideline for respiratory management of children with neuromuscular weakness summarises the available evidence in this field and provides recommendations that will aid healthcare professionals in delivering good quality patient care.
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Review
Cystic fibrosis, primary ciliary dyskinesia and non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis: update 2008-11.
A review is presented of key clinical papers published in Thorax and elsewhere between 2008 and April 2011 which have advanced our understanding of cystic fibrosis (CF), primary ciliary dyskinesia and non-CF bronchiectasis. Studies were identified through searches of the Thorax archive and the Medline database. Within the field of CF, the following key themes were studied: diagnosis in equivocal CF, assessment of CF lung disease, novel therapies addressing the basic defect in CF, maintenance pulmonary therapies, management of early Pseudomonas infection, the microbiology of CF lung disease, renal impairment in CF and controversies in lung transplantation in CF.
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Comparative Study
Sex, susceptibility to smoking and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the effect of different diagnostic criteria. Analysis of the Health Survey for England.
Some previous studies suggest there are sex differences in susceptibility to, and prevalence of, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but findings are inconsistent. In this study, whether different diagnostic criteria for COPD may contribute to these conflicting findings was examined. ⋯ The study indicates that sex differences in risk of COPD reported in previous studies are influenced by the definition used for COPD. When using a statistically driven definition (LLN), no independent sex difference was found and there was no evidence of an increased susceptibility to COPD among female compared with male smokers.