Journal of thoracic disease
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Interventional bronchoscopy has a predominant role in the management of both early and advanced-stage airway tumors. Given the very poor prognosis of lung cancer, there is a need for new tools to improve early detection and bronchoscopic treatment of endo-bronchial precancerous lesions. ⋯ Surgery for very locally advanced disease is only effective for a limited number of patients and the effects of conventional antitumor therapies, like radiation therapy or chemotherapy, are inconstant and are too delayed in a palliative context. In this review, we aim to provide pulmonologists with an exhaustive technical overview of (I) the bronchoscopic management of benign endobronchial lesions; (II) the bronchoscopic management of malignant tumors, including the curative treatment of localized lesions and palliative management of malignant proximal airway stenosis; and (III) descriptions of the emerging endoscopic techniques used to treat peripheral lung tumors.
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Review
Current outcomes of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting: evidence from real world practice.
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) can be performed conventionally using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and aortic clamping or on a beating heart (BH) without the use of CPB, the so-called off-pump CABG. Some surgeons, who are proponents of off-pump CABG, preferentially use this technique for the majority of operations, whereas others use it only in certain situations which warrant avoidance of CPB. Ever since the conception of off-pump CABG, the never-ending debate about which technique of CABG is safe and efficacious continues to date. ⋯ Additionally, their outcomes in older patients, females, and those with diabetes mellitus, renal dysfunction, presence of ascending aortic disease, and/or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have also been discussed separately. The general consensus is that early results of off-pump CABG are comparable to or in some cases better than on-pump CABG. However, on-pump CABG provides a survival benefit in the long term according to a majority of publications in literature.
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Pneumonia is usually presented as a forgotten killer, and an early diagnosis could largely improve the prognostic outcomes. Lung ultrasound (LUS) has been universally applied in evaluating multiple pulmonary diseases including pneumonia. However, the diagnosis accuracy of LUS for pneumonia in adults is still uncertain. Hence, we performed a systematic review of the current literature to assess the diagnosis accuracy of LUS for pneumonia in adults. ⋯ Our study indicated that LUS is a robust diagnostic tool for pneumonia with high accuracy. Utilization of LUS would facilitate the estimation of pneumonia at bedside.
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Although continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has become the first line of therapy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), it remains controversial whether non-sleepy patients could benefit from CPAP treatment. ⋯ CPAP treatment can reduce OSA severity in non-sleepy patients and minutely reduce the DBP, but CPAP seems to have no overall beneficial effects on subjective sleepiness, SBP, or cardiovascular risk.