The open respiratory medicine journal
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There is a growing interest in better defining risk factors associated with increased susceptibility to exacerbation in patients with COPD. ⋯ Viral AECOPD was not associated with a higher rate of subsequent exacerbations or mortality during the following year.
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Pneumonia is the leading cause of death among infectious diseases in developed countries. However, the severity of pneumonia requiring hospitalization often makes the initial diagnosis difficult because of an equivocal clinical picture or interpretation of the chest film. The objective of the present study was to assess the usefulness of the plasma levels of mid-regional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM) and mid-regional proatrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) in differentiating pneumonia from other lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs). ⋯ MR-proADM levels (but not MR-proANP levels) are increased in patients with pneumonia although its discriminatory power is moderate.
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Septic pulmonary embolism is a serious but uncommon syndrome posing diagnostic challenges because of its broad range of clinical presentation and etiologies. ⋯ The epidemiology of septic pulmonary embolism has broadened over the past decade with an increase in identified extrapulmonary, non-cardiac sources. In the context of an extrapulmonary infection, clinical features of persistent fever, bacteremia and pulmonary complaints should raise suspicion for this syndrome, and typical findings on the chest CT scans confirm the diagnosis. Antibiotics, local drainage procedures and increasingly, anticoagulation are keys to successful outcomes.