Background: Inhaled drug therapy is an essential treatment in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients as it reduces symptoms, exacerbation rate and mortality risk. Errors in inhaler use can affect drug delivery to the lungs and minimize treatment benefits. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of a nurse-lead educational intervention on inhaler use in a group of patients with COPD during a Respiratory Rehabilitation Program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be a powerful tool for a variety of physics topics. The high-intensity proton beams provide a large neutrino flux, sampled by a near detector system consisting of a combination of capable precision detectors, and by the massive far detector system located deep underground. This configuration sets up DUNE as a machine for discovery, as it enables opportunities not only to perform precision neutrino measurements that may uncover deviations from the present three-flavor mixing paradigm, but also to discover new particles and unveil new interactions and symmetries beyond those predicted in the Standard Model (SM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Persistence of breathlessness after recovery from SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is frequent. Recovery from acute respiratory failure (ARF) is usually determined by normalized arterial blood gases (ABGs), but the prevalence of persistent exercise-induced desaturation (EID) and dyspnea is still unknown.
Methods: We investigated the prevalence of EID in 70 patients with normal arterial oxygen at rest after recovery from ARF due to COVID-19 pneumonia.
Introduction: The severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 outbreak spread rapidly in Italy and the lack of intensive care unit (ICU) beds soon became evident, forcing the application of noninvasive respiratory support (NRS) outside the ICU, raising concerns over staff contamination. We aimed to analyse the safety of the hospital staff and the feasibility and outcomes of NRS applied to patients outside the ICU.
Methods: In this observational study, data from 670 consecutive patients with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 referred to pulmonology units in nine hospitals between March 1 and May 10, 2020 were analysed.
To date treatment protocols in Respiratory and or Internal departments across Italy for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients at hospital admission with relapse due to exacerbation do not find adequate support in current guidelines. Here we describe the results of a recent clinical audit, including a systematic review of practices reported in literature and an open discussion comparing these to current real-life procedures. The process was dived into two 8-hour-audits 3 months apart in order to allow work on the field in between meeting and involved 13 participants (3 nurses, 1 physiotherapist, 2 internists and 7 pulmonologists).
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