Relationship between rosacea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Rosacea and comorbidities: Rosacea and comorbidities.

BACKGROUND: Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that has been reported to be associated with many systemic disorders including respiratory diseases. AIMS: This study aims to investigate respiratory function in patients with rosacea. PATIENTS/METHODS: Patients with rosacea and age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers were included in this cross-sectional study. Spirometric pulmonary function tests including the percentage of forced vital capacity (FVC%), percentage of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1%), forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of FVC (FEF 25-75%), and FEV 1/FVC ratio was assessed in both patient and controls. The potential relationship between rosacea severity and pulmonary functions was assessed. RESULTS: A total of 120 patients with rosacea and 120 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Compared to the controls, FEV 1%, FEV 1/FVC%, and FEF 25-75% values were significantly lower in patients with rosacea. Lower FEV 1/FVC% values were found to be associated with disease severity. FEV 1%, FEV 1/FVC%, and FEF 25-75% values were found to be more useful in differentiating the patients from healthy subjects. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that patients with rosacea may have abnormal respiratory function compared to healthy subjects. Besides, disease severity was associated with worse respiratory functions. We believe that patients with rosacea, particularly those with additional risk factors, should be screened for respiratory disorders.

The impact of hepatitis C viremia status on lung functions in chronic hepatitis c patients.

BACKGROUND: Previous trials have investigated the effect of hepatitis C on lung functions; however, the role of viral load levels is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of HCV viremia status on lung functions. METHODS: This study was in 60 patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Patients were classified into three groups (non-viremic, low-viremic and high-viremic) based on serum HCV RNA levels. Spirometric parameters (FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC) and the proportion of patients with spirometric abnormalities were compared between three groups. RESULTS: High-viremic and low-viremic patients showed a significantly higher prevalance of spirometric abnormality than observed in non-viremic patients (p=0.02). Moreover, there was a significant moderate correlation between viremia level and the percentage of spirometric abnormalities (Cramer's U value=0.452, p=0.002). High-viremic patients were 14.2 times more likely to exhibiting pulmonary dysfunction than non-viremic patients. Additionally, spirometric parameters FEV1 and FVC were significantly reduced in high-viremic and low-viremic patients compared to those in non-viremic patients (p=0.013 and p<0.001 respectively). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that persistent HCV infection may be associated with reduced pulmonary functions, especially in patients with high viremia levels. Therefore, these patients should be carefully monitored for lung function.