Patients With Fibrotic Interstitial Lung Disease Hospitalized for Acute Respiratory Worsening: A Large Cohort Analysis.

Background: Acute respiratory worsening (ARW) requiring hospitalization in patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease (f-ILD) is common. Little is known about the frequency and implications of ARW in IPF and non-IPF ILD patients hospitalized for acute exacerbation (AE) vs known causes of ARW.

Methods: All consecutive patients with f-ILD hospitalized with ARW at our institution from 2000 to 2014 were reviewed.

Morbidity and mortality characteristics of morbidly obese patients admitted to hospital and intensive care units.

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of hospitalized morbidly obese inpatients.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed the records of all adult morbidly obese patients (defined as body mass index [BM]) >40 kg/m(2) upon admission) admitted to tertiary university hospital from 2000 to 2008. Primary outcome was hospital mortality.

Respiratory syncytial virus infections in the adult asthmatic--mechanisms of host susceptibility and viral subversion.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a single-stranded RNA virus of the Paramyxoviridae family, is a major cause of bronchiolitis in infants and is also conjectured to be an early-life influence on the development of asthma. Although the data supporting a role for RSV in bronchiolitis in children are robust and evidence to support its role in juvenile asthmatics exists, RSV's role in asthma pathogenesis in adults is not as clearly defined. The authors review the literature to further elucidate RSV's impact on adult asthmatics, including its importance as a cause of asthma exacerbations.