Survival protection by bodyweight in isolated scleroderma-related pulmonary artery hypertension.

In chronic heart failure (CHF) due to systemic cardiovascular disease, obese patients have better survival. Bodyweight versus survival was analyzed post hoc in subjects with limited scleroderma (SSc) and isolated pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH), i.e.

Improved survival in limited scleroderma-related pulmonary artery hypertension.

Reportedly, patients with scleroderma-related pulmonary hypertension (SSc-PAH) respond poorly to new vasoactive drugs (NVD). Forty-nine SSc-PAH patients underwent right heart catheterization (RHC) and, according to NVD availability, divided as follows: Group 1 (n = 23, from 1999 to 2004, poor availability), and Group 2 (n = 26, from 2005 to 2010, good availability). Before diagnostic RHC, NVD had been given to 30 % of the patients in Group 1, and 58 % of those in Group 2 (p = 0.

Improved survival in patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (Inop-CTEPH) treated with conventional therapy have a poor survival. We compare the 3-year survival between those treated with conventional therapy and those treated with conventional therapy and a combination of novel drugs. We also evaluate the clinical course.

Arterial base deficit in pulmonary embolism is an index of severity and diagnostic delay.

In acute pulmonary embolism, patients free from circulatory failure usually present a blood gas pattern consistent with respiratory alkalosis. We investigated whether the appearance of arterial base deficit in these patients indicates disease severity and diagnostic delay. Twenty-four consecutive patients with pulmonary embolism were retrospectively evaluated.

Identification of a predominant COPD phenotype in clinical practice.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by airflow limitation caused by small airways increased resistance and/or terminal airspaces emphysematous destruction. Spirometric detection of not fully reversible airflow limitation unifies under the acronym COPD, a spectrum of heterogeneous conditions, whose clinical presentations may be substantially different. In a cross-sectional study we aimed to ascertain whether COPD phenotypes reflecting different mechanisms of airflow limitation could be clinically identified.

Chronic effort dyspnea explained by lung function tests and by HRCT and CRX radiographic patterns in COPD: a post-hoc analysis in 51 patients.

This paper is a post-hoc analysis of a previous study performed to investigate the relationship between computerized tomography (CT) and lung function in 51 outpatients with mild-to-moderate COPD. We studied whether changes in lung function and radiographic patterns may help to explain dyspnea, the most disturbing symptom in patients with COPD. The Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnea scale shows, by univariate analysis, a similar strength of association to CT expiratory lung density and to DL(CO), a functional index of lung parenchymal loss.

Survival and restoration of pulmonary perfusion in a long-term follow-up of patients after acute pulmonary embolism.

We followed prospectively 834 consecutive patients (70% inpatients), evaluated for suspected pulmonary embolism, for a median time of 2.1 years (range, 0-4.8 yr), and compared the survival rates in patients with proven pulmonary embolism (n=320) with those without (n=514).

Spirometrically gated high-resolution CT findings in COPD: lung attenuation vs lung function and dyspnea severity.

Study Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between high-resolution CT (HRCT) lung attenuation measurements, acquired under spirometric control of inspiratory and expiratory lung volume, and pulmonary dysfunction as well as dyspnea severity in patients with COPD.

Patients And Design: In 51 patients with COPD, we compared by linear regression, univariate and multivariate logistic regression airflow limitation (FEV(1)/vital capacity [VC]), hyperinflation (percentage of predicted residual volume [RV%]), parenchymal loss (percentage of predicted diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide [Dlco%]), and Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnea scale with relative area with attenuation values < - 950 HU at 90% of VC [RAI(950)] and < - 910 HU at 10% of VC, respectively, and with mean lung attenuation measured at the same levels of VC (mean CT lung density at 10% of VC, and mean CT lung density at 90% of VC [MeanCTEXP]).

Results: All HRCT attenuation measurements were significantly related with functional abnormalities and dyspnea severity.

Pulmonary embolism: lung scan and computed tomography.

The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism may be confounded by a clinical presentation that is often subtle or atypical. Therefore pulmonary angiography, although invasive, has been widely used to prove pulmonary embolism. The aim of this review is to discuss the value of non-invasive techniques, such as lung scan and chest computed tomography scan, in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

Elective surgery for giant bullous emphysema: a 5-year clinical and functional follow-up.

Background: So far, very few studies in the literature have reported data on the long-term follow-up of patients who have undergone surgery for giant bullous emphysema (GBE), and much still needs to be known on the late fate of these patients.

Aims: To evaluate patients who have undergone elective surgery due to GBE, early and late mortality following surgery, the early and late reappearance of bullae, and the early and late modifications of clinical and functional data.

Subjects And Methods: Forty-one consecutive patients (36 men; mean [+/- SD] age, 48.

Cigarette smoke extract induces oxidative stress and apoptosis in human lung fibroblasts.

Cigarette smoke is a mixture of chemicals having direct and/or indirect toxic effects on different lung cells. We investigated the effect of cigarette smoke on human lung fibroblasts (HFL-1) oxidation and apoptosis. Cells were exposed to various concentrations (1, 5, and 10%) of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) for 3 h, and oxidative stress and apoptosis were assessed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and confocal laser fluorescence microscopy.