Efeitos agudos dos exercícios respiratórios, Threshold PEP™ e Powerbreathe® em pacientes com derrame pleural, no pós-procedimento de drenagem torácica / Acute effects of breathing exercises, Threshold PEP™ and Powerbreathe® in patients with pleural effect, in the post-thoracic drainage procedure

Introdução: O derrame pleural modifica as capacidades pulmonares, provocando distúrbio ventilatório restritivo. As terapias respiratórias evitam a progressão e tratam a restrição de volumes pulmonares. Objetivo: Comparar o efeito agudo de três recursos fisioterapêuticos em pacientes com derrame pleural após procedimento de drenagem torácica. Métodos: Estudo experimental, randomizado e prospectivo, realizado com 60 pacientes com derrame pleural, todos hospitalizados. A amostra foi dividida em 3 grupos com 20 pacientes, cada grupo recebeu uma terapia respiratória: exercícios respiratórios, Threshold PEP™ ou Powerbreathe®. Para avaliar a função pulmonar foram utilizados, a espirometria, a manovacuometria e o peak flow. Os atendimentos foram diários, seguiu-se o protocolo de 4 séries de 15 repetições. Análise estatística: aplicou-se os testes qui-quadrado de Pearson, Shapiro-Wilk, Friedman, Wilcoxon e correlação de Spearman. Para todos os testes considerou-se o nível de significância de 5%. Resultados: Os exercícios respiratórios resultaram em diferenças significativas na capacidade vital forçada (CVF), antes 1,66±0,60 e depois 1,84±0,50 (p=0,01), no volume expiratório forçado no primeiro segundo (VEF1), antes 1,25±0,46 e depois 1,57±0,52 (p=0,01), enquanto o grupo tratado com Threshold PEP™ a diferença significativa foi apenas na CVF, antes 1,49±0,78 e depois 1,78±0,85 (p=0,04). Em relação à força muscular respiratória, nenhuma das terapias resultou em diferença significativa na PImax e PEmax. Conclusão: O protocolo com exercícios respiratórios demonstrou superioridade na função pulmonar quando comparado com o Threshold PEP™ e Powerbreath®, tornando-se mais indicado no manejo de pacientes com derrame pleural após drenagem torácica.

Serum Cortisol: An Up-To-Date Assessment of Routine Assay Performance.

BACKGROUND: Accurate serum cortisol quantification is required for the correct diagnosis and management of adrenal pathologies. Presently, most laboratories use immunoassay to measure serum cortisol with proficiency schemes demonstrating a wide dispersion of results. Here, we investigate the effects of sex, matrix, and antibody specificity on serum cortisol quantification in 6 routine assays. METHODS: Surplus serum was obtained before disposal and the following cohorts were created: males, nonpregnant females, pregnant patients, and patients prescribed either metyrapone or prednisolone. Samples were anonymized and distributed to collaborating laboratories for cortisol analysis by 6 routine assays. Cortisol was also measured in all samples using an LC-MS/MS candidate reference measurement procedure (cRMP); cortisol-binding globulin (CBG) was measured in the nonpregnant and pregnant female cohorts. RESULTS: Considerable inter- and intraassay variation was observed across the male and nonpregnant female cohorts relative to the cRMP. Four immunoassays underrecovered cortisol in the pregnancy cohort, and CBG was found to be significantly higher in this cohort than in the nonpregnant females. In the metyrapone and prednisolone cohorts, all immunoassays overestimated cortisol. The first generation Roche E170 and Siemens Centaur XP were particularly prone to overestimation. In all cohorts the routine LC-MS/MS assay aligned extremely well with the cRMP. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the clinical importance of serum cortisol, the performance of routine immunoassays remains highly variable. Accurate quantification is compromised by both matrix effects and antibody specificity. Underpinning this study with a cRMP has highlighted the deficiencies in standardization across routine cortisol immunoassays.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in the secretome of cultured embryos: hyperglycosylated hCG and hCG-free beta subunit are potential markers for infertility management and treatment.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is produced by trophoblast cells throughout pregnancy, and gene expression studies have indicated that hCG-beta subunit (hCGß) expression is active at the 2 blastomere stage. Here, we investigated the qualitative hCG output of developing embryos in culture and hCG isoforms expressed in the secretome as a novel sensitive method for detecting hCG. Culture media was collected from the culture plates of 118 embryos in culture (including controls and embryos at different stages of culture) from 16 patients undergoing routine fertility treatment. The hCGß was detectable in media from 2 pronuclear (2PN) stage embryos through to the blastocyst stage. The hCGß was absent in 1PN and arrested embryos as well as all media controls. Prior to hatching, hyperglycosylated hCG (hCGh) was observed selectively in 3PN embryos, but after hatching, along with hCG, became the dominant hCG molecule observed. We have reported at the 2PN stage the earliest evidence of hCGß expression in embryos. There is a suggestion this may be indicative of quality in early embryos, and hCGh seen at the pronuclear stage may suggest triploid abnormality. The dominance of hCG, and hCGh expression, seen after blastocyst hatching may be indicative of potential implantation success. Thus, hCG isoforms have potential roles as biomarkers of embryo viability for embryo/blastocyst transfer.