Asthma and COPD Are Not Risk Factors for ICU Stay and Death in Case of SARS-CoV2 Infection.

BACKGROUND: Asthmatics and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have more severe outcomes with viral infections than people without obstructive disease. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if obstructive diseases are risk factors for intensive care unit (ICU) stay and death due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). METHODS: We collected data from the electronic medical record from 596 adult patients hospitalized in University Hospital of Liege between March 18 and April 17, 2020, for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) infection. We classified patients into 3 groups according to the underlying respiratory disease, present before the COVID19 pandemic. RESULTS: Among patients requiring hospitalization for COVID19, asthma and COPD accounted for 9.6% and 7.7%, respectively. The proportions of asthmatics, patients with COPD, and patients without obstructive airway disease hospitalized in the ICU were 17.5%, 19.6%, and 14%, respectively. One-third of patients with COPD died during hospitalization, whereas only 7.0% of asthmatics and 13.6% of patients without airway obstruction died due to SARS-CoV2. The multivariate analysis showed that asthma, COPD, inhaled corticosteroid treatment, and oral corticosteroid treatment were not independent risk factors for ICU admission or death. Male gender (odds ratio [OR]: 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-3.2) and obesity (OR: 8.5; 95% CI: 5.1-14.1) were predictors of ICU admission, whereas male gender (OR 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1-3.2), older age (OR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.6-2.3), cardiopathy (OR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.1-3.1), and immunosuppressive diseases (OR: 3.6; 95% CI: 1.5-8.4) were independent predictors of death. CONCLUSION: Asthma and COPD are not risk factors for ICU admission and death related to SARS-CoV2 infection.

Impact of a shift in treatment funding on a multidisciplinary sleep clinic: a cohort study.

Multidisciplinary Sleep Clinics for sleep apnea have long existed, bringing together neurologists, sleep specialists, dentists, orthodontists and surgeons. In Belgium, a shift in funding for obstructive sleep apnea treatment was implemented from January 1st, 2017. Funding was allowed for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea and the rules shifted for treatments delivery and monitoring by authorised medical opinion. We aimed to assess whether a shift in treatment funding was associated with a change in the multidisciplinary sleep practice. Sample consisted of all patients discussed in the sleep multidisciplinary team meetings of the University Hospital of Liege from January 2016 to December 2018. Interrupted times series, Mann-Whitney U tests and descriptive statistics were produced. There were no differences in patients age, male sex preponderance, body mass index, clinical presentation and level of obstruction. Baseline obstructive sleep apnea severity was significantly lower (mean apnea-hypopnea index and mean oxygen desaturation index lowered with p = 0.0189 and p = 0.0466, respectively) after the funding rules changed. Oral appliance and ENT surgery were more often offered after the shift in funding. The key changes of the new funding rules for obstructive sleep apnea were reflected in the patient selection and management by sleep multidisciplinary team meeting. Funding terms could influence the care we give, not only in treatment options, but also in patients selection.

Exhaled nitric oxide thresholds associated with a sputum eosinophil count ≥3% in a cohort of unselected patients with asthma.

BACKGROUND: It has been claimed that exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) could be regarded as a surrogate marker for sputum eosinophil count in patients with asthma. However, the FeNO threshold value that identifies a sputum eosinophil count ≥3% in an unselected population of patients with asthma has been poorly studied. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted in 295 patients with asthma aged 15­84 years recruited from the asthma clinic of University Hospital of Liege. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve and logistic regression analysis were used to assess the relationship between sputum eosinophil count and FeNO, taking into account covariates such as inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), smoking, atopy, age and sex. RESULTS: Derived from the ROC curve, FeNO ≥41 ppb gave 65% sensitivity and 79% specificity (AUC=0.777, p=0.0001) for identifying a sputum eosinophil count ≥3%. Using logistic regression analysis, a threshold of 42 ppb was found to discriminate between eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic asthma (p<0.0001). Patients receiving high doses of ICS (≥1000 µg beclometasone) had a significantly lower FeNO threshold (27 ppb) than the rest of the group (48 ppb, p<0.05). Atopy also significantly altered the threshold (49 ppb for atopic vs 30 ppb for non-atopic patients, p<0.05) and there was a trend for a lower threshold in smokers (27 ppb) compared with non-smokers (46 ppb, p=0.066). Age and sex did not affect the relationship between FeNO and sputum eosinophilia. When combining all variables into the logistic model, FeNO (p<0.0001), high-dose ICS (p<0.05) and smoking (p<0.05) were independent predictors of sputum eosinophilia, while there was a trend for atopy (p=0.086). CONCLUSION: FeNO is able to identify a sputum eosinophil count ≥3% with reasonable accuracy and thresholds which vary according to dose of ICS, smoking and atopy.