Clinical Proof of Concept for Stabilization of Tracheostomy Tubes Using Novel DYNAtraq Device.

Introduction: Tracheostomy is one of the most common surgical strategies in intensive care units (ICU) and provides relevant clinical benefit for multiple indications. However, the complications associated with its use range from 5 to 40% according to different series. The risk of these complications could be reduced if fixation strategies and alignment of the tracheostomy tube with respect to the tracheal axis are improved.

Effect of Antioxidants in the Treatment of COPD Patients: Scoping Review.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common, preventable, treatable lung disease characterized by persistent respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation and multiorgan impact. This affects the nutritional status of patients and requires multidimensional interventions including nutritional interventions according to individual metabolic needs. Our scoping review determined the effects of antioxidants in the treatment of COPD patients and their role in the decrease in the probability of exacerbations, hospital readmissions, and changes in lung function.

Invention and Pilot Study of the Efficacy and Safety of the SUPRAtube Device in Continuous Supraglottic Aspiration for Intubated and Mechanically Ventilated Patients.

Background: Bronchoaspiration of content that accumulates in the supraglottic area (eg, saliva, gastroesophageal reflux) is a risk factor for ventilator-associated pneumonia. A continuous supraglottic suction system may decrease the risk of bronchoaspiration in these patients.

Objective: (1) Constructing a conceptual model and functional prototype of a continuous supraglottic suction device for use in humans; (2) defining functional characteristics in ex vivo swine head models; and (3) evaluating its efficacy and safety in mechanically ventilated patients.

Effects of interval and continuous exercise training on autonomic cardiac function in COPD patients.

Background And Aim: Both interval (IT) and continuous (CT) exercise training results in an improvement of aerobic capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, their effects on cardiac autonomic function remains unclear. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of a supervised CT vs IT on autonomic cardiac function in COPD patients.

Methods: COPD patients were divided into two different groups according to training modality (IT or CT).

High-intensity vs. sham inspiratory muscle training in patients with chronic heart failure: a prospective randomized trial.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility, and safety of a 4-week high-intensity inspiratory muscle training (hi-IMT) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).

Methods And Results: A double-blind randomized clinical trial was carried out in 22 patients with CHF. Participants were assigned to the hi-IMT or sham-IMT group.

Injury of peripheral muscles in smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Muscle injury has clinical relevance in diseased individuals because it is associated with muscle dysfunction in terms of decreased strength and/or endurance. This study was aimed at answering three questions: whether the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with peripheral muscle injury; whether muscle injury is associated with some of the relevant functional impairment in the muscles; and whether muscle injury can be solely justified by deconditioning. Twenty-one male COPD patients were eligible for the study.

[Non-invasive functional evaluation of the reserve in fatigue and the diaphragm structure using transthoracic echography in B and M modes].

Unlabelled: The diaphragm is the principal respiratory muscle. Its special characteristics have made it difficult to design instruments capable of performing a non-invasive evaluation of its structure and function in humans. The present study was designed to evaluate the potential use of echography as a non-invasive method to fulfil these objectives.

Global muscle dysfunction as a risk factor of readmission to hospital due to COPD exacerbations.

Unlabelled: Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with several modifiable (sedentary life-style, smoking, malnutrition, hypoxemia) and non-modifiable (age, co-morbidities, severity of pulmonary function, respiratory infections) risk factors. We hypothesise that most of these risk factors may have a converging and deleterious effects on both respiratory and peripheral muscle function in COPD patients.

Methods: A multicentre study was carried out in 121 COPD patients (92% males, 63 ± 11 yr, FEV(1), 49 ± 17%pred).

Lung function and long-term complications after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant.

It is unknown if diminished pulmonary function early after allogeneic hematopoietic transplant is associated with poor long-term outcomes. The objective of this study was to determine if posttransplant lung function is associated with 5-year nonrelapse mortality (NRM) and the development of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). Retrospective analysis was done for 2158 patients who had routine pulmonary function testing 60-120 days after transplant between 1992 and 2004.

Mass of intercostal muscles associates with risk of multiple exacerbations in COPD.

Background: The potential role of decreased respiratory muscle mass, if any, in mediating the susceptibility to exacerbation in COPD patients has not been determined. We hypothesized that a decrease in respiratory muscle mass is associated with increased risk of multiple hospital admissions due to acute exacerbations of the disease.

Methods: Eligible cases and controls (n=20) were identified from records of our department's pulmonary clinic.

Influence of pretransplantation restrictive lung disease on allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation outcomes.

We conducted a 15-year retrospective cohort study to determine the prevalence of restrictive lung disease before allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), and to assess whether this was a risk factor for poor outcomes. A total of 2545 patients were eligible for the analysis. Restrictive lung disease was defined as a total lung capacity (TLC) < 80% of predicted normal.

Sustained CTL activation by murine pulmonary epithelial cells promotes the development of COPD-like disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lethal progressive lung disease culminating in permanent airway obstruction and alveolar enlargement. Previous studies suggest CTL involvement in COPD progression; however, their precise role remains unknown. Here, we investigated whether the CTL activation receptor NK cell group 2D (NKG2D) contributes to the development of COPD.

[Early pleuropulmonary toxicity associated with cabergoline, an antiparkinsonian drug].

We report a case of pleural effusion, pericardial thickening, and pulmonary involvement in a patient with dry cough, dyspnea, edema, and changes in the skin of the lower limbs. Treatment with cabergoline (Sogilen) had been started 4 months earlier. Pleural effusion, pericardial thickening, and impaired pulmonary function (airflow obstruction, increased airway resistance, and reduced carbon monoxide diffusing capacity) were observed.

[Determination of maximal diaphragm strength in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: cervical magnetic stimulation versus traditional sniff maneuver].

Objective: Magnetic stimulation of the diaphragm allows its strength to be assessed. The clinical applications of this technique are becoming more widespread given that the patient's cooperation is not required. The aim of the present study was to compare this inhalation technique with traditional voluntary forced inspiration (sniff test) in a group of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Clinical outcomes of expiratory muscle training in severe COPD patients.

Unlabelled: The most common symptoms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are breathlessness and exercise limitation. Although both general and inspiratory muscle training have shown clinical benefits, the effects of specific expiratory muscle training remain controversial.

Objective: To investigate the effects of expiratory training on lung function, exercise tolerance, symptoms and health-related quality of life in severe COPD patients.

Aging, sex differences, and oxidative stress in human respiratory and limb muscles.

Oxidative stress is involved in the sarcopenia of aging muscles. On the grounds that ventilatory muscles are permanently active, and their activity may even increase with aging, we hypothesized that the levels of oxidative stress would probably be increased in the external intercostals of elderly healthy individuals. We conducted a case-control study in which reactive carbonyl groups, malondialdehyde-protein adducts, 3-nitrotyrosine immunoreactivity, Mn-superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), and catalase were detected using immunoblotting in external intercostals and quadriceps (open muscle biopsies) obtained from 12 healthy elderly and 12 young individuals of both sexes.

[Global muscle dysfunction and exacerbation of COPD: a cohort study].

Background And Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate on a prospective fashion the effects of clinical relapses of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on both peripheral and respiratory skeletal muscle functions.

Patients And Method: We included 49 patients (males, 63 [11] years) who were assigned to three cohorts: a) COPD patients who were hospitalized in a conventional ward because of a relapse of their disease; b) patients hospitalized in conventional wards because of another lung disease or a pulmonary nodule; and c) COPD patients whose disease was stabilized (outpatients). Sequential measurements were made by means of anthropometry, serum biochemistry and body bioimpedance (BIA).

Inspiratory muscle training in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: structural adaptation and physiologic outcomes.

The present study was aimed at evaluating the effects of a specific inspiratory muscle training protocol on the structure of inspiratory muscles in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Fourteen patients (males, FEV1, 24 +/- 7% predicted) were randomized to either inspiratory muscle or sham training groups. Supervised breathing using a threshold inspiratory device was performed 30 minutes per day, five times a week, for 5 consecutive weeks.