Approach to Patients with Severe Asthma: a Consensus Statement from the Respiratory Care Experts' Input Forum (RC-EIF), Iran.

Challenges in the assessment, diagnosis and management of severe, difficult-to-control asthma are increasingly regarded as clinical needs yet unmet. The assessments required to determine asthma severity, comorbidities and confounding factors, disease phenotypes and optimal treatment are among the controversial issues in the field. The respiratory care experts' input forum (RC-EIF), comprised of an Iranian panel of experts, reviewed the definition, appraised the available guidelines and provided a consensus for evaluation and treatment of severe asthma in adults. A systematic literature review followed by discussions during and after the forum, yielded the present consensus. The expert panel used the appraisal of guidelines for research and evaluation-II (AGREE-II) protocol to define an initial locally-adapted strategy for the management of severe asthma. Severe asthma is considered a heterogeneous condition with various phenotypes. Issues such as assessment of difficult-to-control asthma, phenotyping, the use of blood and sputum eosinophil count, exhaled nitric oxide to guide therapy, the position of anti-IgE antibody, methotrexate, macrolide antibiotics, antifungal agents and bronchial thermoplasty as well as the use of established, recently-developed and evolving treatment approaches were discussed and unanimously agreed upon in the panel. A systematic approach is required to ensure proper diagnosis, evaluate compliance, and to identify comorbidities and triggering factors in severe asthma. Phenotyping helps select optimized treatment. The treatment approach laid down by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) needs to be followed, while the benefit of using biological therapies should be weighed against the cost and safety concerns.

The effect of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty with tonsillectomy in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

In the current study, we evaluated the effectiveness of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) in treatment of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome. All patients were previously received medical treatment but their symptoms did not resolve. A prospective study was conducted in Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd, Iran. Several sleep indices were evaluated using polysomnography (PSG) in all patients before performing UPPP and tonsillectomy. All patients were visited 6 months after surgery and PSG was repeated to assess the efficacy of surgical intervention. A total of 48 patients were enrolled and underwent UPPP and tonsillectomy. Six months after surgery, significant improvements were observed in all indices of sleep (apnea-hypopnea index, respiratory distress index, arterial oxygen saturation, and snoring index). The score of daytime sleepiness (assessed by Epworth score) was also improved. According to the result of this study, using UPPP surgery in patients with OSA can cause symptoms improvement in 64 % of cases. It seems that Muller's maneuver test has assisted in briefly increasing success rate after surgery, though to prove this claim; other studies should be designed and performed in a randomized clinical trial.

Predictive Role of ADA in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid in Making the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Current diagnostic tests for tuberculosis (TB) are time-consuming. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of ADA in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in patients with pulmonary TB. A cross-sectional study was performed in Yazd, Iran, between 2009 and 2010. Patients suspected of pulmonary TB with negative sputum smear for AFB were included in the study. Mean ADA levels in BAL fluids were measured and compared between study groups. Sixty-three patients were enrolled in the study among which 15 cases had pulmonary TB, 33 had pulmonary diseases other than TB, and 15 subjects with normal bronchoscopy results were considered as controls. Mean ADA levels in BAL fluid were 4.13 ± 2.55, 2.42 ± 1.06, and 1.93 ± 0.88, respectively. This rate was significantly higher in the pulmonary TB group compared to the other two groups (P = 0.001). Using ROC curve with a cut-off value of 3.5 IU/L, the highest sensitivity (57%) and specificity (84%) were obtained in diagnosis of TB. The results showed that although ADA activity in BAL fluid of pulmonary TB patients was higher than those seen in other diseases, a negative test does not rule out pulmonary TB.