All-cause and cause-specific mortality by spirometric pattern and sex - a population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Chronic airway obstruction (CAO) and restrictive spirometry pattern (RSP) are associated with mortality, but sex-specific patterns of all-cause and specific causes of death have hardly been evaluated. OBJECTIVES: To study the possible sex-dependent differences of all-cause mortality and patterns of cause-specific mortality among men and women with CAO and RSP, respectively, to that of normal lung function (NLF). DESIGN: Population-based prospective cohort study. METHODS: Individuals with CAO [FEV1/vital capacity (VC) < 0.70], RSP [FEV1/VC ⩾ 0.70 and forced vital capacity (FVC) < 80% predicted] and NLF (FEV1/VC ⩾ 0.70 and FVC ⩾ 80% predicted) were identified within the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) studies in 2002-2004. Mortality data were collected through April 2016, totally covering 19,000 patient-years. Cox regression and Fine-Gray regression accounting for competing risks were utilized to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) adjusted for age, body mass index, sex, smoking habits and pack-years. RESULTS: The adjusted hazard for all-cause mortality was higher in CAO and RSP than in NLF (HR, 95% CI; 1.69, 1.31-2.02 and 1.24, 1.06-1.71), and the higher hazards were driven by males. CAO had a higher hazard of respiratory and cardiovascular death than NLF (2.68, 1.05-6.82 and 1.40, 1.04-1.90). The hazard of respiratory death was significant in women (3.41, 1.05-11.07) while the hazard of cardiovascular death was significant in men (1.49, 1.01-2.22). In RSP, the higher hazard for respiratory death remained after adjustment (2.68, 1.05-6.82) but not for cardiovascular death (1.11, 0.74-1.66), with a similar pattern in both sexes. CONCLUSION: The higher hazard for all-cause mortality in CAO and RSP than in NLF was male driven. CAO was associated with respiratory death in women and cardiovascular death in men, while RSP is associated with respiratory death, similarly in both sexes.

All-cause and cause specific mortality in relation to different lung function patterns and sex; normal, obstructive and restricted lung functionChronic airway obstruction and restrictive spirometry pattern are associated with mortality, but sex specific patterns have hardly been evaluated.Aim: To study possible sex-dependent differences of all-cause and cause-specific mortality among men and women with chronic airway obstruction and restrictive spirometry pattern, respectively, compared to that of normal lung function.Methods: Individuals with chronic airway obstruction, restrictive spirometry pattern and normal lung function were identified within the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) studies in 2002-04. Mortality data were collected through April 2016, totally covering 19,000 patient-years of observation time. We analyzed the Hazard Ratios for all-cause and cause-specific death comparing chronic airway obstruction and restrictive spirometry pattern to that of normal lung function, adjusting for age, body mass index, sex, smoking habits and pack-years. Similar analyses were conducted separately for men and women.Results: The hazard for all-cause mortality was higher in both chronic airway obstruction and restrictive spirometry pattern than in normal lung function and, the higher hazards were male-driven. In chronic airway obstruction the hazard of respiratory and cardiovascular deaths higher than in those with normal lung function. The increased hazard of respiratory death was significant in women while the increased hazard of cardiovascular death was significant in men. In restrictive spirometry pattern, the higher hazard for respiratory but not cardiovascular death persisted after adjustment, similarly in both sexes.Conclusions: The higher hazard for all-cause mortality in chronic airway obstruction and restrictive spirometry pattern than in normal lung function was male-driven. Chronic airway obstruction associated with respiratory death in women and cardiovascular death in men, while restrictive pattern associated with respiratory death, similarly in both sexes.

Pulmonary hypertension secondary to respiratory disease and/or hypoxia in dogs: Clinical features, diagnostic testing and survival.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with substantial morbidity and if untreated, mortality. The human classification of PH is based on pathological, hemodynamic characteristics, and therapeutic approaches. Despite being a leading cause of PH, little is known about dogs with respiratory disease and/or hypoxia (RD/H)-associated PH. Therefore, our objectives were to retrospectively describe clinical features, diagnostic evaluations, final diagnoses and identify prognostic variables in dogs with RD/H and PH. In 47 dogs identified with RD/H and PH, chronic airway obstructive disorders, bronchiectasis, bronchiolar disease, emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, neoplasia and other parenchymal disorders were identified using thoracic radiography, computed tomography, fluoroscopy, tracheobronchoscopy, bronchoalveolar lavage, and histopathology. PH was diagnosed using transthoracic echocardiography. Overall median survival was 276.0 days (SE, 95% CI; 216, 0-699 days). Dogs with an estimated systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (sPAP) ≥47mmHg (n=21; 9 days; 95% CI, 0-85 days) had significantly shorter survival times than those <47mmHg (n=16; P=0.001). Estimated sPAP at a cutoff of ≥47mmHg was a fair predictor of non-survival with sensitivity of 0.78 (95% CI, 0.52-0.94) and specificity of 0.63 (95% CI, 0.38-0.84). Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitor administration was the sole independent predictor of survival in a multivariable analysis (hazard ratio: 4.0, P=0.02). Canine PH is present in a diverse spectrum of respiratory diseases, most commonly obstructive disorders. Similar to people, severity of PH is prognostic in dogs with RD/H and PDE5 inhibition could be a viable therapy to improve outcome.

Convergence in the Epidemiology and Pathogenesis of COPD and Pneumonia.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the main causes of human mortalities globally after heart disease and stroke. There is increasing evidence of an aetiological association between COPD and pneumonia, the leading infectious cause of death globally in children under 5 years. In this review, we discuss the known risk factors of COPD that are also shared with pneumonia including smoking, air pollution, age and immune suppression. We review how lung pathology linked to a previous history of pneumonia may heighten susceptibility to the development of COPD in later life. Furthermore, we examine how specific aspects of COPD immunology could contribute to the manifestation of pneumonia. Based on the available evidence, a convergent relationship is becoming apparent with respect to the pathogenesis of COPD and pneumonia. This has implications for the management of both diseases, and the development of new interventions.

Outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation - rehabilitation models and shortcomings in outpatient aftercare.

BACKGROUND: The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the bronchial asthma are widespread diseases. They need long-lasting and sustainable rehabilitation. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this HTA is to describe the present supply and the economic relevance of out-patient pulmonary rehabilitation in conjunction with its social aspects. A further target is to derivate options for actions in the health-care system and possible research necessities. METHODS: Relevant publications are identified by means of a structured search in 37 database accessed through the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI). In addition a manual search of identified reference lists has been done. The present report includes German and English literature published from 2004 to 2009. The methodological quality was assessed by two independent researchers according to pre-defined quality criteria of evidence based medicine. RESULTS: Among 860 publications 31 medical studies, four economic studies and 13 ethical studies meet the inclusion criteria. The studies cover rehabilitation programmes in 19 countries. The majority of them has a high level of evidence (1A to 2C). The pulmonary rehabilitation programmes differ by the setting (in-patient, out-patient, in-home, community-based), by the length of intervention (from two weeks to 36 months), by the way and the frequency of intervention and by the duration of the follow-up treatment. Overall out-patient rehabilitation programmes achieve the same positive effects for COPD patients as in-patient programmes do. This is especially true for physical performance and health related quality of life. There are only a few studies dealing with asthma. Therefore, valid statements cannot be given. The results for cost-effectiveness are not distinct enough. DISCUSSION: Goals of pulmonary rehabilitation like prevention and adequate treatment of acute exacerbations, the minimisation of hospitalisation and the reduction of mortality are attained in out-patient as well as in in-patient pulmonary rehabilitation. Regarding the best frequency of training units per week or the duration and the content of a unit further research is needed. Final results for the ideal length of an in-patient rehabilitation are still missing. None of the studies deals with the analysis of the different treatment forms of a COPD which are frequently defined by an alteration of in-patient and out-patient treatments and participation in sports clubs or self-help groups. There are some other limitations of the studies. The results concerning self-management programmes are not distinct. (Self-) Selection leads to high drop-out rates. Many studies have only small sample sizes. Confounder and long-time effects are seldom researched, relevant economic evaluations do not exist The improvement of health related quality of life is primarily obtained by an improved disease management than by an improvement of a medical parameter. CONCLUSION: Out-patient pulmonary rehabilitation is as effective as in-patient pulmonary rehabilitation. But there is a critical shortage of out-patient pulmonary rehabilitation supply in Germany. Domains for further research are the evaluation of models for integrated care, the length, frequency and content of training programmes, psychiatric assessments and the cost-effectiveness of out-patient pulmonary rehabilitation.

Evaluation of clinical course in patients with eosinophilic bronchitis: A prospective follow up study / 천식및알레르기

BACKGROUND: Eosinophilic bronchitis (EB) presents as a chronic cough and sputum eosinophilia without airflow limitation and bronchial hyperreactivity. The long-term clinical courses remain unknown. OBJECTIVE AND METHOD: The aim of this study was to evaluate how frequently EB recurs and whether it develops into chronic airway obstruction. Cough severity, FEV1, PC20 methacholine and sputum eosinophil percentages were serially measured in 36 subjects for up to 48 months. RESULT: Five subjects developed recurrent episodes of EB (RG) between 4 to 6 months after the first episode of EB. Asthma developed in the 9th month of the study in one of these subjects and a progressive FEV1 reduction exceeding 20% was observed in two. Nineteen subjects had no recurrence of EB (NRG). However, sputum eosinophilia recurred between 4 and 24 months in 10 subjects of the NRG, though this was without cough or FEV1 reduction. The follow-up eosinophil percentages were significantly higher in the RG than NRG group with recurrent sputum eosinophilia. CONCLUSION: About 14% of EB cases experience repeated episodes of EB and in about 30%, the EB recurs as asymptomatic sputum eosinophilia. Moreover, the extent of sputum eosinophilia was found to be associated with the recurrence of eosinophilic bronchitis, which leads to an airflow rate deterioration. These results suggest that repeated episode of EB is a risk factor for the development of asthma or chronic airway obstruction.

Measurement of Ventilatory Threshold in the Patients with Chronic Airway Obstruction / 결핵

BACKGROUND: There are many suggested methods for the indirect determination of anaerobic threshold(AT) using the changes of ventilatory parameters in respones to ventilatory load accompanying the increase of blood lactic acid level during exercise and the threshold derived from them is called ventilatory threshold( VT). They include ventilatory equivalent method(VEM), End-tidal PO2 method(PETO2), V-slope method(VSM), and respiratory quotient method(RQ). But in the patients with chronic airway ohstruction(CAO), the AT determined by ventilatory methods may not reflect true AT because the patients with GAO show inadequate ventilatory response to the increase of blood lactic acid level during excercise. METHODS: For the investigation of detection rate and reliability of above four VT determination methods in the patients with GAO, we performed the symptom-limited and maximal incremental exercise test in 17 patients with GAO and 12 normal controls. The incremental workload was 10 W/min in GAO group and 25 W/min in control group. The reliability of VT in each group was investigated by the calculation of Spearman correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The detection rates of VT were 100% by RQ, 91.7% by both VEM and POETO2, and 83.3% by VSM in normal control group, while 94.1% by RQ, 64.7% by VEM and PETO2, and 83.3% by VSM in GAO group. Good correlations were noted among VEM, PETO2, and VSM except RQ in normal control group. But there was no significant correlation except between VEM and PETO2 in GAO group. CONCLUSIONS: RQ is very sensitive but crude and VEM is near similar to PETO2. The clinical usefulness of VT determined by ventilatory method might be limited in patients with severe GAO.