Annals of Thoracic Medicine最新文献

Introduction and objectives: Stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) caused by biomass smoke (B-COPD) has some differences from tobacco-induced-COPD (T-COPD), but acute exacerbations (AECOPD) have not been well characterized in B-COPD.

Objective: To compare the incidence, characteristics and outcomes of AECOPD in B-COPD with those of T-COPD.

Methods: A retrospective observational study that included consecutive patients seen at a specialized COPD clinic (2008-2021). The incidence of severe AECOPD that required hospital admission was studied. For the first AECOPD, the following variables were recorded: fever, coexistence of pneumonia, purulent sputum, eosinophil count, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, hypercapnia, and respiratory acidosis. Outcome variables were intensive care unit (ICU) admission, length of hospital stay, and mortality within 1 month of hospital admission.

Results: Of 1060 subjects, 195 (18.4%) belonged to the B-COPD group and 865 (81.6%) to the T-COPD group. During a follow-up of 67.9 (37.8-98.8) months, 75 (38.4%) patients in the B-COPD group and 319 (36.8%) in the T-COPD group suffered at least one severe AECOPD. The only difference between groups was in a higher risk of ICU admission for the T-COPD group. The incidence, characteristics, and the rest of the outcomes of AECOPD were similar for both groups.

Conclusion: AECOPD are similar events for B-COPD and T-COPD and should be managed similarly.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide among both men and women. Although advances in therapy have been made, the 5-year survival rates for lung cancer remain poor, ranging from 10% to 20%. One of the main reasons is late presentation, as only 25% of patients are amenable to cure at the time of presentation. Therefore, the emphasis on lung cancer screening (LCS) is growing with the current evidence that has shown benefits with low-dose computed tomography scan of the chest in high-risk populations. LCS remains a debated topic in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, possibly due to a lack of local experience. In this article, we explore the rationale and give recommendations on the best approach for LCS in GCC.

Introduction: The most common cause of death among sickle cell disease (SCD) patients is acute chest syndrome (ACS). Since SCD is a common condition in the Eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), we aimed to provide a detailed description of the clinical characteristics and ACS management.

Methods: We retrospectively studied pediatric (<14 years) patients with SCD diagnosis who were admitted with ACS or developed ACS after admission from January 2002 to December 2020. The absence of chest X-ray or hemoglobin electrophoresis was the reason to exclude patients from the study. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate and report the clinical, laboratory, and management characteristics of ACS.

Results: Ninety-one ACS episodes (42 patients) were included, with a mean diagnosis age of 7.18 ± 3.38 years. Twenty-two (52.4%) patients were male. Twenty-five patients had recurrent ACS episodes. The median absolute number of ACS was 3.5 (interquartile range [IQR], 2-9), with maximum ACS episodes of 13/1 year and a minimum of 1 ACS episode per year. At the first ACS episode, the mean age was 6.62 ± 3.38 years, while the overall mean age at ACS episode diagnosis was 7.18 ± 3.38 years. The most common antecedent events were vaso-occlusive crisis (12 episodes, 13.2%) and upper respiratory tract infections (8 episodes, 8.8%). The most frequently encountered presenting symptoms were fever (70.3%) and cough (70.3%). The most common antibiotics used were azithromycin (82.4%) and ceftriaxone (75.8%). Nine patients (9.9%) required pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission. Of the 91 ACS episodes, there was no in-hospital mortality. The median hospital and PICU length of stay were 8 days (IQR, 5-10.25) and 4 days (IQR, 3-5.5), respectively.

Conclusion: This study has reported the most common clinical characteristics and management of ACS among pediatric SCD patients in the Eastern province of KSA.

Although the routine use of alkali buffer is not recommended in patients with respiratory acidosis, some patients may benefit from its administration. A 42-year-old man was treated with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) and continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) due to necrotizing pneumonia and emphysematous cystitis with Klebsiella pneumoniae. Although the sweep gas flow rate of the VV-ECMO was gradually reduced, he failed to wean off VV-ECMO due to respiratory acidosis, followed by tachycardia and tachypnea on the 63rd day of VV-ECMO. Therefore, we mixed sodium bicarbonate in the replacement fluid of CVVHDF for 5 days to avoid an intolerable decrease in blood pH after discontinuing the VV-ECMO sweep gas. When the serum bicarbonate concentration was >30 mmol/L and pH was maintained at >7.30 with a PCO2 of >60 mmHg, VV-ECMO was finally decannulated. Sodium bicarbonate buffer through the replacement of CVVHDF fluid facilitated VV-ECMO weaning in a patient with hypercapnic respiratory failure.

Context: Early use of a high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) provides positive outcomes for preventing the risk of intubation. However, the efficiency and usage of HFNC in the case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among adult patients with multiple risk factors remain debatable and require more investigation.

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the efficiency of HFNC in preventing the possible risk of intubation.

Settings and design: This study was an observational cross-sectional study that was conducted at a selected hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from July 2020 to August 2021.

Methods: The data were collected from patients' medical records through the hospital health information system. Adult COVID-19 patients who used HFNC were included, while those who used bilevel positive airway pressure or continuous positive airway pressure without any trials of HFNC and neonatal or pediatric patients were excluded. The exposure of HFNC setting which included variables such as percentages of the fraction of inspired oxygen and the duration of using HFNC were measured to find the relation with respiratory rate oxygenation (ROX) index as a measurement of patient outcome.

Statistical analysis used: The data were analyzed by using the online calculator socscistatistics. com for prevalence statistics, and correlation tests of significance. Prevalence statistics were presented in mean, median, frequencies, and percentages. Statistical tests were used to measure correlations of key variables. P < 0.05 of ANOVA and t-tests was considered statistically significant.

Results: A total of 159 adult COVID-19 patients using HFNC were included, and most of these patients were male. The median age was 64 years. Most of patients were reported to have hypertension and diabetes mellitus. The majority (94.34%) of patients were successfully weaned from HFNC and shows effective intervention with a mean of 7.53 of ROX score. Appropriate implementation of HFNC might be a successful intervention for preventing the risk of intubation.

Conclusions: According to the success rate of HFNC, which was considered a positive outcome, there might be a promising intervention for HFNC to prevent the risk of intubation and decrease the mortality rate.

Background: Cancer patients are particularly vulnerable during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to evaluate clinical characteristics and mortality among cancer patients with COVID-19.

Methods: This retrospective, observational cohort study included 53 patients with a malignancy and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 infection in a tertiary care center in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, from March 14, 2020, to October 29, 2020. Clinical, laboratory, and radiological data were collected from institutional electronic records and analyzed.

Results: Overall, 53 patients (62% male) were enrolled. The mean age of the patients was 54.9 ± 19.0 years, with 76% aged <65 years. The most common symptoms were fever (66%), dry cough (40%), and dyspnea (36%). Most infections (89%) were community acquired. Hematological malignancies (36%) were the most common cancer type. The most common solid tumors were breast cancer (23%) and colon cancer (9%). Just over half (51%) had a stage 4 tumor, and 30% of the patients had received chemotherapy within 2 weeks before the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. Initial chest radiographs showed pneumonia in 43% of patients; 38%, 9%, and 6% required oxygen support, intensive care unit admission, and invasive mechanical ventilation, respectively. The most common complication was secondary bacterial infection (13.2%). The all-cause mortality rate was 17%. In the multivariable logistic regression, dyspnea, leukocytosis, use of systemic steroids, and secondary bacterial infection were found to be risk factors for death.

Conclusion: Hospitalized cancer patients with COVID-19 have a high mortality rate. Our study finds a correlation between multiple independent risk factors and mortality. Patients with dyspnea, leukocytosis, systemic steroid use, or secondary bacterial infection require more care, attention, and possibly more aggressive treatment.

Objective: The objective of this study is to compare the outcome of treatment with drainage and urokinase (UK) versus thoracoscopy (TS) in pleural empyema secondary to complicated pneumonia.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with complicated parapneumonic effusions between 2008 and 2019 treated with UK or TS. Epidemiological and evolutionary data compared days of fever, antibiotic, pre- and postprocedure stay, time to radiological resolution, and complications. The results were expressed as medians and the comparisons were made by the Mann-Whitney U-test.

Results: Of 143 patients with NC, 46 were empyemas (26 men), 25 were treated with TS, and 10 were treated with UK. The remaining 11 received combined treatment, being excluded from the study. There were no significant differences between TS versus UK in age (median 4 vs. 3 years), days of fever before the procedure (4 vs. 2) and after (2 vs. 2), days of antibiotic treatment before the procedure (4 vs. 4), overall hospital stay (15 vs. 13 days), and months until radiological normalization (2 vs. 2). The complications related to the therapy were scarce in both groups and had no impact on evolution. Patients with TS had a longer preprocedural stay (4 vs. 1; P < 0.001) and required fewer days of subsequent antibiotic after procedure (8 vs. 11; P = 0.03), and a shorter overall antibiotic treatment time (11 vs. 16; P = 0.03). They also had a shorter post-TS stay (9 vs. 12 days), although this difference did not become significant (P = 0.09).

Conclusions: In our experience, the results obtained with both procedures are quite similar, although patients undergoing TS had a better evolution (fewer days of antibiotic and a tendency to less hospitalization), despite having been performed a priori in more evolved patients.

Post-COVID lung impairment and diseases are major public health concern in the pandemic of COVID-19. Multiple etiological factors can lead to post-COVID respiratory symptoms, with post COVID fibrosis or diffuse parenchymal lung disease being the major concern. We searched PubMed database for English literature related to post-COVID lung disease and we summarized the existing evidence on radiological, physiological, and histopathological aspects of post-COVID lung diseases. We suggest a guidance on the evaluation of these patients and highlight management considerations including general care, pulmonary rehabilitation, and lung transplantation. We also explain gaps in knowledge and awaited ongoing research results, especially in the field of drug therapies including corticosteroids and antifibrotics.

Context: Asthma and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are prevalent respiratory disorders that frequently coexist. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the standard treatment for OSA. However, its effects on systemic inflammation and glucocorticoid responsiveness in OSA patients with asthma are largely unknown.

Aims: To examine the potential role of CPAP therapy in reducing systemic inflammation and improving glucocorticoid responsiveness in asthmatic patients with OSA.

Settings and design: A case-control study was conducted at the respiratory and sleep clinics involving patients with OSA and patients with asthma and OSA.

Methods: The levels of inflammatory asthma biomarkers (interleukin [IL]-4, IL-17A, IL-8, IL-2, and interferon-γ [IFN-γ]), and glucocorticoid receptors (GR)-α and GR-β, were determined to compare systemic inflammation and glucocorticoid responsiveness between pre- and post-1-month CPAP treatment in both groups.

Statistical analysis: The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare inflammatory biomarkers before and after CPAP therapy. P < 0.05 considered statistically significant. The analysis was performed using SPSS.

Results: Recruited patients (n = 47), 51% (n = 24) had OSA and 49% (n = 23), had OSA with asthma. Interestingly, the blood levels of IL-17 and IL-8 were significantly decreased post-CPAP therapy in OSA patients, whereas IL-4, IL-17, and IFN-γ were significantly reduced post-CPAP treatment in OSA patients with asthma. Remarkably, CPAP therapy improved glucocorticoid responsiveness in asthmatic patients with OSA, but not in the OSA group and an increase in the GR-α/GR-β ratio was noted post-CPAP therapy.

Conclusions: Continuous positive airway pressure therapy improved responsiveness to glucocorticoid treatment and demonstrated a suppressive effect on proinflammatory cytokines in asthmatics with OSA.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to identify the optimal oral temperature cut-off value and other factors predictive of sepsis in elderly patients presenting to emergency department.

Methods: A hospital-based retrospective study was performed on all elderly patients who presented to the Adult Emergency Department at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh (January to December 31, 2018).

Results: Of total of 13,856 patients, 2170 (15.7%) were diagnosed with sepsis. The associated area under the curve estimate was 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.72-0.74. Body temperature ≥37.3 was found as optimal cut-point with sensitivity = 50.97% and specificity = 87.22% and 82.39% of patients with sepsis will be correctly classified using this cut-off. An increase of 1° in body temperature was associated with an odds ratio of 9.95 (95% CI 8.95-11.06, P < 0.0001). Those aged ≥100 years having 11.12 (95% CI 2.29-20.88, P < 0.0001) times the likelihood for sepsis diagnosis compared with those aged 60-69 years. People admitted in weather such as winter, spring, or autumn were more likely to develop sepsis than people admitted in summer.

Conclusion: The risk factors of sepsis such as age, temperature, and seasonal variation inform important evidence-based decisions. The hospitals dealing with sepsis patients should assess older patients for other severe illnesses or co-morbid that might lead to sepsis if left untreated. Therefore, older patients need to be prioritized over younger patients. The body temperature of patients admitted to hospitals needs to be monitored critically and it is important to consider seasonal fluctuations while managing cases of sepsis and allocating resources. Our findings suggest that clinicians should explore the possibility of sepsis in elderly patients admitted to emergency units with oral temperature ≥37.3°C. Risk factors for sepsis reported in this study could inform evidence-based decisions.