Safety and efficacy of the C-Tb skin test to diagnose Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, compared with an interferon γ release assay and the tuberculin skin test: a phase 3, double-blind, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: Targeted screening and treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection substantially reduces the risk of developing active tuberculosis. C-Tb (Statens Serum Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark) is a novel specific skin test based on ESAT-6 and CFP10 antigens. We investigated the safety and diagnostic potential of C-Tb compared with established tests in the contact-tracing setting.

Risk factors for a low linezolid trough plasma concentration in acute infections.

Linezolid is an antibiotic with time-dependent activity, and both the percentage of time that plasma concentrations exceed the MIC and the area under the concentration-time curve over 24 h in the steady state divided by the MIC (AUC24/MIC ratio) are associated with clinical response. The aim of this study was to analyze the linezolid trough plasma concentration (C(min)) and to determine factors associated with a C(min) < 2 mg/liter and other clinically relevant thresholds. Characteristics of 78 patients receiving 600 mg/12 h of linezolid with a C(min) determination at the steady state and within the first 10 days of treatment were retrospectively reviewed.

Is linezolid a risk factor for Gram-negative bacillus infections in intensive care unit patients? A comparative study with vancomycin.

Background: Linezolid is frequently used in critically ill patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia. Its potent activity against Gram-positive microorganisms and its high tissue penetration may favour Gram-negative colonization and infection. The aim of our study was to evaluate the risk for Gram-negative infections in critically ill patients treated with linezolid or vancomycin.

Changing epidemiology of central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections: increasing prevalence of Gram-negative pathogens.

Objectives: Gram-positive microorganisms have been the predominant pathogens in central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs). Recent guidelines recommend empirical therapy according to this and restrict coverage for Gram-negatives to specific circumstances. This study aimed to analyse the epidemiological changes in CRBSIs over the 1991-2008 period and to analyse predictors of Gram-negative CRBSIs.

[Forced spirometry in healthy preschool children].

Introduction: Reference values for spirometry in healthy preschool children have not yet been obtained in accordance with American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) guidelines. The objective was to establish reference values for spirometry in healthy preschoolers under the ATS/ERS 2007 statement.

Material And Method: Children of at least 2 and under 7 years of age were tested in 9 pediatric pulmonary function laboratories.

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess asthma control in pediatrics.

Objective: To develop and validate a questionnaire to assess asthma control in children (CAN).

Design: Two versions of the CAN (for carers and children) were developed. Both versions were validated in an observational, prospective, multicenter study performed in 38 hospital outpatient clinics throughout Spain.

[Assessment of patient satisfaction and preferences with inhalers in asthma with the FSI-10 Questionnaire].

Background And Objective: Lack of adherence to inhaled corticosteroid therapy is common in patients with asthma, and it has been suggested that allowing patients to choose their own inhalers would resolve this problem. The FSI-10 (Feeling of Satisfaction with Inhaler) is a self-completed questionnaire to assess patient opinions regarding ease or difficulty of use, portability, and usability of devices for delivery of inhaled corticosteroids. The aim of this study was to define the measurement properties of the FSI-10 questionnaire and to use this inventory to compare satisfaction and preferences of patients with asthma regarding 3 different devices for delivery of inhaled corticosteroids: Turbuhaler, Accuhaler, and Novolizer.

[Variability in peak expiratory flow does not classify asthma according to severity].

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether variability in peak expiratory flow (PEF) could be used to classify the level of severity of asthma in children.

Patients And Methods: We studied 387 boys and girls diagnosed with asthma and classified severity according to clinical criteria (Spanish Society of Pediatric Pneumology). PEF variability was determined using a portable mini-Wright peak flow meter (Clement Clarke International, London, UK; range, 50 L/min-800 L/min) over a 14-day period, with no changes in normal treatment.

Upregulation of COX-1 and COX-2 in nasal polyps in cystic fibrosis.

Background: Since abnormalities in prostanoid metabolism occur in the lower airway of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), it is likely that they could also be detected in the nose.

Methods: The degree of mRNA and protein expression of cyclo-oxygenase (COX) enzymes 1 (COX-1) and 2 (COX-2) was examined using quantitative reverse competitive polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis in the nasal polyps from 10 patients with CF, nasal polyps from 10 non-CF patients and 11 nasal mucosa specimens. The results are presented as 10(6) cDNA molecules/mug total RNA and the densitometric ratio between protein and beta-actin.

Antimicrobial therapy for pulmonary pathogenic colonisation and infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis patients.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonisation has a negative effect on pulmonary function in cystic fibrosis patients. The organism can only be eradicated in the early stage of colonisation, while reduction of bacterial density is desirable during chronic colonisation or exacerbations. Monthly, or at least 3-monthly, microbiological culture is advisable for patients without previous evidence of P.

[Comparative efficacy of oral deflazacort versus oral prednisolone in children with moderate acute asthma].

Objectives: To assess the efficacy and tolerability of oral deflazacort versus oral prednisolone in acute moderate asthma in children.

Patients And Methods: We performed a prospective, randomized, parallel group trial of children aged 6 to 14 years old with a diagnosis of asthma who presented to the pediatric emergency department for moderate asthma exacerbation. All patients were administered short-acting beta2-adrenergic agonists.

Use of the Advia 120 hematology analyzer in the differential cytologic analysis of biological fluids (cerebrospinal, peritoneal, pleural, pericardial, synovial, and others).

The centralization of our laboratories and the demand for new parameters to measure have led to an increase in the number of biological fluid samples, which are generally sent for urgent analysis. Due to this they cannot be processed by manual methods. Meeting this increased demand for assistance is a challenge for the laboratory, and the challenge has been met by the automated hematology area.

Parents' adherence with nebulizer treatment of their children when using an adaptive aerosol delivery (AAD) system.

The objective of this study was to analyze data on parents' adherence to their child's prescribed nebulizer treatment regimen and compliance with the demands of the nebulizer and the face mask. Data on adherence and compliance were recorded in a 24-week double-blind, randomized, parallel-group study with budesonide inhalation suspension in 125 young children with mild to moderate asthma. Budesonide was administered with an Adaptive Aerosol Delivery (AAD) system, which recorded adherence to treatment and compliance with the AAD system.

Lung transplantation in young infants with interstitial pneumonia.

Objectives: We describe our experience with infants suffering from interstitial pneumonia referred for lung transplantation.

Methods: From April 1998 to December 2000, three infants were admitted to our lung transplantation program: a 9-month-old girl (patient 1) suffering from surfactant protein C deficiency who had high oxygen requirements (fraction of inspired oxygen: 70% to 90%), and two boys, ages 2 (patient 2) and 9 months (patient 3), who were ventilator-dependent due to chronic pneumonitis of infancy.

Results: Patients were transplanted at the age of 5 months (patient 2) and 13 months (patients 1 and 3) at 87 to 105 days after being accepted for lung transplantation.

[Cystic fibrosis in adults: study of 111 patients].

Background: Our goal was to establish the clinical and genetic characteristics of patients diagnosed with adult-onset cystic fibrosis (CF).

Patients And Method: This was a retrospective observational descriptive comparative study of CF patients according to their age at the time of diagnosis. All adult patients (> 16 years old) attended in our CF Unit until November 2001 were included in the study.

Budesonide/formoterol in a single inhaler versus inhaled corticosteroids alone in the treatment of asthma.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy (expressed as effect on lung function) and tolerability of Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol in a single inhaler) in children with asthma. This was a double-blind, double-dummy, randomized, parallel-group, multicenter trial. After a 2-4-week run-in period, 286 asthmatic children (177 boys, 109 girls; mean age, 11 years; mean forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV(1)), 75% predicted normal), previously treated with inhaled corticosteroids (average dose 548 microg/day), were randomized to 12 weeks' treatment with either budesonide/formoterol 80/4.

[Pilot study on knowledge about asthma and its treatment among Spanish teachers].

Unlabelled: This was a study aimed to know the knowledge about asthma.

Subjects And Method: 933 teachers of 27 schools from 7 cities (children aged between 4 and 15 years) using a self-administered questionnaire Half of them knew asthma prevalence and its hereditary nature. Nearly all related asthma with allergy, 38% with exercise, 25%had students who suffered from asthma attacks in the school, and 91% admitted to have limited information and wish to improve it.

[Validity of the Spanish version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Questionnaire for evaluating quality of life in asthmatic children].

Background: To analyze the clinical utility of the quality of life questionnaire for asthmatic children (PAQLQ) and to validate it for use in clinical practice.

Patients And Method: 1,012 children between 6 and 14 years of age, with a diagnosis of mild to moderate asthma attending 48 Spanish hospitals were included in the study. The patients' socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded and all patients were administered the PAQLQ and EQ-5D questionnaires on two occasions: at the baseline visit and at 2-3 months from baseline in patients with uncontrolled asthma(group A) and at baseline and 15 days from baseline in patients with controlled asthma (group B).

DNase use in the daily care of cystic fibrosis: who benefits from it and to what extent? Results of a cohort study of 199 patients in 13 centres. DNase National Study Group.

Unlabelled: Short-term clinical trials with DNase have shown minor to moderate benefits in cystic fibrosis patients. This study was performed to analyse the effectiveness of DNase use in daily practice and to obtain information on its effects in the long term and at different disease stages. Patients being treated in 13 specialised units were included if they started DNase treatment before June 1996.

[Bone mass in patients with cystic fibrosis of the pancreas. Relationship with anthropometric parameters and genotype].

Background: Cross-sectional study of bone mineral density (BMD) in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis of the pancreas. The relationship of BMD values with nutritional status, respiratory function and the cystic transmembrane regulator genotype was also evaluated.

Patients And Methods: BMD expressed as grams of hydroxyapatite/cm2 was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in the lumbar spine (L2-L4) in 41 patients (21 males and 20 women; age range: 4-21 years) with cystic fibrosis of the pancreas and compared with that of 471 normal controls (256 males and 215 women; age range: 1-20 years).

Enhanced oxidative damage in cystic fibrosis patients.

Antioxidant depletion and increased free radical production by inflammatory cells have been described in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. To evaluate oxidative damage intensity, we measured plasma concentrations of malondialdehyde, hydroperoxides and protein carbon groups as markers of oxidative injury to lipids and proteins in a group of 101 CF patients free of acute exacerbation, and in 43-112 controls. Moreover, we estimated antioxidant function by measuring activities of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase and vitamin E concentrations.

Spectrum of manifestations of Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome.

Purpose: The clinical and imaging findings of children with Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome (SJMS) were reviewed to determine the incidence and type of bronchiectasis and analyze whether the clinical course of patients with bronchiectasis differed from that of patients without bronchiectasis.

Method: Our study population consisted of 13 patients. All had inspiratory/ expiratory chest X-ray films, chest CT, and lung scans.

Missense mutation R1066C in the second transmembrane domain of CFTR causes a severe cystic fibrosis phenotype: study of 19 heterozygous and 2 homozygous patients.

We report the clinical features of 21 unrelated cystic fibrosis (CF) patients from Portugal and Spain, who carry the mutation R1066C in the CFTR gene. The current age of the patients was higher in the R1066C/any mutation group (P < 0.01), as compared to the deltaF508/deltaF508 group.