Thorax
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Contribution of host, bacterial factors and antibiotic treatment to mortality in adult patients with bacteraemic pneumococcal pneumonia.
Host and bacterial factors as well as different treatment regimens are likely to influence the outcome in patients with bacteraemic pneumococcal pneumonia. ⋯ Host factors appear to be more important than the specific serotype as determinants of mortality in patients with bacteraemic pneumococcal pneumonia. Several host factors were identified that contribute to mortality, which is important for prognosis and to guide targeted prevention strategies.
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Comparative Study
Lung cancer survival and stage at diagnosis in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK: a population-based study, 2004-2007.
The authors consider whether differences in stage at diagnosis could explain the variation in lung cancer survival between six developed countries in 2004-2007. ⋯ There are comparability issues when using population-based data but, even given these constraints, this study shows that, while differences in stage at diagnosis explain some of the international variation in overall lung cancer survival, wide disparities in stage-specific survival exist, suggesting that other factors are also important such as differences in treatment. Stage should be included in international cancer survival studies and the comparability of population-based data should be improved.
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Multiple-breath washout (MBW)-derived lung clearance index (LCI) is a sensitive measure of ventilation inhomogeneity in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), but LCI measurement is time consuming. We systematically assessed ways to shorten LCI measurements. In 68 school-aged children (44 with mild CF lung disease) three standard nitrogen (N2) MBWs were applied. ⋯ Alternative ways to measure LCI reduced test duration in children with CF by 30% and 41%, respectively. LCI measurements can be reliably shortened in children. These new MBW protocols may advance the transition of LCI from research into clinical settings.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Mucin 5B promoter polymorphism is associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis but not with development of lung fibrosis in systemic sclerosis or sarcoidosis.
A polymorphism (rs35705950) 3 kb upstream of MUC5B, the gene encoding Mucin 5 subtype B, has been shown to be associated with familial and sporadic idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We set out to verify whether this variant is also a risk factor for fibrotic lung disease in other settings and to confirm the published findings in a UK Caucasian IPF population. ⋯ We confirm the MUC5B variant association with IPF. We did not observe an association with lung fibrosis in the context of SSc or sarcoidosis, potentially highlighting fundamental differences in genetic susceptibility, although the limited subgroup numbers do not allow a definitive exclusion of an association.