Multidisciplinary Respiratory Medicine最新文献

The diagnostic criterion for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) based on the findings of concomitant clinical and electrophysiological evidence of upper and lower motor neuron involvement may remain unsatisfied for months and in some patients, even for years in the early stage of the disease. Since respiratory involvement is an onset symptom of ALS in only 1-3% of patients, pulmonary assessment has never been considered useful in the early diagnosis of ALS. However, studies on pulmonary function are lacking, especially in those early stages where neurologic tests are also inconclusive. In contrast to the scarcity of data in the early stages, as the disease progresses, it is increasingly enriched by a rich set of symptoms and positive respiratory tests until respiratory failure occurs, which represents the main cause of death in ALS. Hereby we analyze the main pulmonary function tests (PFT) in the various stages of the disease, up to the recent evidence for the possibility of an early diagnosis.

Background: The use of case-based reimbursement for medical rehabilitation is greatly discussed. The investigators explored the relationship between disability and reimbursement opportunities in individuals with respiratory diseases undergoing in-hospital pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), considering the correlation (if any) between the Rehabilitation Complexity Scale (RCS-E v13) scores used at admission and the actual reimbursement.

Methods: This study is part of a larger prospective multicenter study conducted by eight Pulmonary Rehabilitation Units in Italy. Here, investigators considered only data from the Lombardy Region. On January 30^th or February 28^th, 2023, participants were allocated according to the main DRG into 4 groups [tracheostomized/ventilated (TX/V), chronic respiratory failure (CRF), COPD, and miscellaneous group]. We recorded anthropometrics, diagnosis, international outcome measures, and calculated admission and discharge RCS-E v13 scores and hospital stay reimbursement according to the healthcare system (HS).

Results: Three hundred and sixteen participants were evaluated. Patients were elderly, in the majority of cases with CRF, presenting comorbidities, disability, dyspnea, and reduced effort tolerance. At admission, RCS-E v13 showed an average moderate value of complexity. The median (IQR) HS reimbursement/stay was different among groups. RCSE v13 evaluated at admission was weakly (r=0.3471), but significantly related to the HS reimbursement/stay (p<0.0001) mainly due to TX/V and miscellaneous subgroups, while no relationship was found for COPD and CRF patients. After PR, all outcome measures improved significantly in all groups (p<0.001 for all). Higher RCS-E v13 scores at admission did not correspond to a proper amount of reimbursement, being this latter under- or over-estimated if compared to needs assessed by RCS-E v13. RCS-E v13 at discharge decreased for all subgroups (range from -6 to -11) reaching a low value of complexity.

Conclusions: The RCS-E v13 disability score does not fully mirror the HS reimbursement for patients undergoing inhospital PR.

Background: Several studies have suggested that HIF-1α regulates eosinophil activity and induces epithelial inflammation via NF-κB activation in the pathophysiology of asthma. The purpose of this study was to examine the expression of the transcription factors HIF-1α and nuclear HIF in mononuclear cells obtained from peripheral blood samples of healthy pediatric patients, asthmatic patients, and asthmatic exacerbations, regardless of disease severity.

Methods: HIF-1 levels were measured using immunocytochemistry in 133 patients aged 6 to 17 years in this crosssectional and comparative study. A microscope was used to examine glass slides, and positive cells were counted in four fields per slide using an image analyzer.

Results: HIF-1α and nuclear HIF levels were significantly higher in asthma patients and even higher in patients experiencing asthma attacks (p<0.0001, 95% CI). There was no significant difference in the percentage of HIF-1α expression between groups with intermittent asthma and those with mild persistent asthma, nor between patients with asthma and those experiencing asthma exacerbations.

Conclusions: When compared to healthy individuals, the expression of nuclear HIF and HIF-1α is increased in peripheral mononuclear cells in asthma patients and even more so in asthma exacerbations. This suggests that HIF-1α is important in the pathogenesis of this disease.

Background: Tracheobronchial mucus plays a crucial role in pulmonary function by providing protection against inhaled pathogens. Due to its composition of water, mucins, and other biomolecules, it has a complex viscoelastic rheological behavior. This interplay of both viscous and elastic properties has not been fully described yet. In this study, we characterize the rheology of human mucus using oscillatory and transient tests. Based on the transient tests, we describe the material behavior of mucus under stress and strain loading by mathematical models.

Methods: Mucus samples were collected from clinically used endotracheal tubes. For rheological characterization, oscillatory amplitude-sweep and frequency-sweep tests, and transient creep-recovery and stress-relaxation tests were performed. The results of the transient test were approximated using the Burgers model, the Weibull distribution, and the six-element Maxwell model. The three-dimensional microstructure of the tracheobronchial mucus was visualized using scanning electron microscope imaging.

Results: Amplitude-sweep tests showed storage moduli ranging from 0.1 Pa to 10,000 Pa and a median critical strain of 4%. In frequency-sweep tests, storage and loss moduli increased with frequency, with the median of the storage modulus ranging from 10 Pa to 30 Pa, and the median of the loss modulus from 5 Pa to 14 Pa. The Burgers model approximates the viscoelastic behavior of tracheobronchial mucus during a constant load of stress appropriately (R² of 0.99), and the Weibull distribution is suitable to predict the recovery of the sample after the removal of this stress (R² of 0.99). The approximation of the stress-relaxation test data by a six-element Maxwell model shows a larger fit error (R² of 0.91).

Conclusions: This study provides a detailed description of all process steps of characterizing the rheology of tracheobronchial mucus, including sample collection, microstructure visualization, and rheological investigation. Based on this characterization, we provide mathematical models of the rheological behavior of tracheobronchial mucus. These can now be used to simulate mucus flow in the respiratory system through numerical approaches.

Background: Our previous study showed a reduced cumulative length of re-admission stays due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations during one year after telemedicine video consultation (TVC). The current study evaluated the effects of TVC on the length of re-admission stays within 12 months follow up post-TVC compared to phone call follow up or COPD usual care in a randomized study. Our secondary aim was to assess the impact of TVC on the frequency of re-admissions within 12 months of follow up. Patient satisfaction, hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and COPD assessment test (CAT) scores were also evaluated.

Methods: The study was a prospective randomized study of COPD patients who after hospital discharge for acute COPD exacerbations, were randomized to monitoring by TVC at home compared to phone call follow up for two weeks by a specialist nurse at the hospital or usual COPD care. Prospectively, we compared the cumulative durations and frequencies of hospital re-admissions due to COPD exacerbations within 12 months follow up after TVC, phone call follow up or usual COPD care.

Results: Among 173 COPD patients followed for 12 months, 99 were re-admitted. The median cumulative length of readmission stays per patient within 12 months post-TVC did not differ from those followed by phone calls or with usual COPD care. The number of patients re-admitted and the number of re-admissions due to COPD exacerbations were also equal in the three groups. Patient satisfaction was high among those followed by TVC and phone calls, and the HADS and CAT scores favorably declined from baseline to post-intervention in patients followed by TVC and phone calls.

Conclusions: The study could not demonstrate a beneficial effect of TVC on the cumulative length of re-admission stays or on the number of re-admissions within 12 months following an acute COPD hospital stay, as compared to those followed by phone calls or with usual COPD care. Patient satisfaction was high among those followed by TVC and phone calls, and the declines in HADS and CAT scores seem to be consequences of increased empowerment and competence for good self-care in COPD patients, remaining through the one-year observation period.