Second sensor to improve near-infrared spectroscopy flap monitor utility: A prospective study.

Objective: This study assesses whether use of continuous noninvasive near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) sensor on head and neck free flap (FF) with a second sensor on nonoperated tissue improves distinction between systemic hypoperfusion and FF compromise.

Methods: Single-institution, prospective study of patients undergoing head and neck FF reconstruction from December 2018 to April 2020. FFs were continuously monitored using NIRS on a monitor paddle with a second (control) sensor on the shoulder.

Breathing retraining for African-American adolescents with asthma: a pilot study of a school-based randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Asthma affects approximately seven million children/adolescents in the USA, with African-American children disproportionately affected. Breathing retraining techniques have been shown to improve asthma outcomes in adults, though research in youth is limited. The purpose of this pilot study was to test the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a school-based randomized controlled trial of breathing retraining for asthma outcomes and anxiety symptoms in a sample of urban, African-American adolescents.

[Assessment of recent weight history before instituting continuous positive airways pressure in a cohort of patients with severe obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnea syndrome].

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the recent weight history in patients with the obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) needing treatment with continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP).

Patients And Methods: Over a period of 18 months, a self-administered questionnaire concerning recent weight history was given to patients during the installation of CPAP.

Results: The study population consisted of 1337 patients.

Cardiovascular risk factors in men and women with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

Unlabelled: We wished to evaluate the prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) before initiation of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), and without any declared or diagnosed pre-existing CV disorder. We wanted to compare the prevalence of these CV risk factors between men and women in an observational study. A questionnaire concerning CV risk factors was submitted to the patients, by a respiratory home-care technician at the time of installation of the CPAP treatment.

Measuring permeability with a whole cell-based biosensor as an alternate assay for angiogenesis: comparison with common in vitro assays.

Angiogenesis plays cardinal role in normal developmental processes as well as in numerous pathologies. Multiple cytokines are released and act simultaneously to activate endothelial cells in vivo. The present study investigated the relative ability of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in modulating cell monolayer permeability, migration, proliferation and tube formation individually and in combination.

Evaluation of autoCPAP devices in home treatment of sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome.

Background And Purpose: Quality of life (QOL) and sleepiness for patients with sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) might improve with continuous positive airway pressure devices working in auto-adjust mode (autoCPAP) by allowing pressure modulations following patient needs. Clinical comparisons between devices driven by different algorithms are needed.

Methods: We compared the clinical effectiveness of fixed pressure CPAP and four different autoCPAP devices by assessing compliance and QOL (36-item short-form health survey [SF-36]).

[How do you really know if the obese patient has sleep apnea?].

Obesity is known to predispose to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition characterized by repeated episodes of apnea or hypopnea during sleep, due to the interruption of airflow through the nose and mouth. These episodes lead to the fragmentation of sleep and to decrease in oxyhaemoglobin saturation. Patients with massive obesity, with or without daytime hypersomnolence should be systematically screened for OSA, because many of them appear to be asymptomatic and unaware of their breathing abnormalities during sleep.

[Home ventilation after intensive care].

In the course of chronic respiratory insufficiency, acute episodes often require the use of mechanical ventilation. Failure of weaning, or worsening of alveolar hypoventilation, results in long term ventilatory assistance with the need of overall care of the patient. The pneumologist has a key role in the choice of indications, devices and mode of home mechanical ventilation.

Prevalence of habitual snoring in a sample of French males. Role of "minor" nose-throat abnormalities.

Background: No data on snoring prevalence obtained with a standard questionnaire exist for France. Major nose-throat abnormalities have been demonstrated in cases with obstructive sleep apnea; evidence of "minor" abnormalities in community studies is scarce.

Objectives: The first objective of our study was to estimate the prevalence of habitual snoring in a sample of middle-aged active males in France.

Breathing pauses during sleep: can a non-invasive ENT examination help identify subjects at risk in epidemiological settings?

In patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) anatomic and functional upper airway abnormalities are frequent and severe. Invasive methods are used to identify and quantitate the obstruction, to precisely locate its site, etc. as part of pre-treatment or of preoperative evaluations.

Effective compliance during the first 3 months of continuous positive airway pressure. A European prospective study of 121 patients.

Effective compliance (time spent at the effective pressure) with nasal CPAP in obstructive sleep apnea has been reported to be poor. The aim of our study was to evaluate effective compliance in a large European multicenter study. One hundred twenty-one consecutive newly treated patients (initial apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] = 62.

Simultaneous laboratory-based comparison of ResMed Autoset with polysomnography in the diagnosis of sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome.

ResMed Autoset (AS) is a simplified diagnosis system for obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAS) based on the respiratory flow/time relationship by pressure variation measured through simple nasal prongs. A multicentre prospective trial was used to compare AS and polysomnography (PSG) for diagnosing 95 patients, with suspected OSAS. Physicians gave a pretest probability of the patient having OSAS.

Health-related quality of life in long-term oxygen-treated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) induces changes in daily activities and mood. Health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures are of particular relevance in the management of such patients, but predictors of HRQL have rarely been investigated. The aim of this study was to seek factors predicting HRQL in severe COPD patients under long term oxygen therapy (LTOT).

[Evaluation of smoking in chronic severe respiratory insufficiency patients treated with long-term oxygen at home].

Two hundred and fifty patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency (202 men and 48 women), being treated by oxygen therapy at home were included in a study, which aim was to estimate the proportion of patients who were either smokers or exposed to passive smoking, by the use of a questionnaire and measurement of cotininuria. Urinary sample and autoquestionnaire collection was carried out by the nurses of the Lorraine's association of home respiratory assistance. Urinary continine was measured by radio immuno assay.

[Validation of the St George's questionnaire for measuring the quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

The validity of a French version of a disease specific quality of life instrument, the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire, has been assessed in a sample of 64 patients with chronic respiratory disease undergoing oxygen therapy. The studied properties were internal consistency, test-retest reproducibility and criterion validity. The St George's showed a good internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha coefficients from 0.

Nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation. Long-term follow-up in patients with severe chronic respiratory insufficiency.

Prior studies have shown that nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) can improve arterial blood gas values, prevent symptoms resulting from alveolar hypoventilation, and decrease hospitalization in patients with chronic respiratory failure. Most studies have involved small samples of patients followed up for a limited time. This study reviews our experience during 5 years use of NIPPV in 276 patients with kyphoscoliosis, posttuberculosis sequelae, Duchenne-type muscular dystrophy, COPD, and bronchiectasis followed up for > or = 3 years while receiving NIPPV.

[Long-term oxygen therapy at home. Compliance with the medical prescription and observance of the daily duration of at least 15 hours].

Long-term domiciliary oxygen therapy in patients with chronic respiratory failure significantly improves both survival and quality of life. These therapeutic objetives are only achieved by daily oxygen therapy of more than 15 hours. For a period of 3 months, we have prospectively measured the duration of oxygen therapy in 930 patients with chronic airflow obstruction.

[Drug-induced pulmonary diseases: diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic aspects. Apropos of 10 personal case reports].

The authors report ten cases of drug induced lung diseases, complicated by respiratory failure of whom five were attributed to cytotoxic drugs and five to non cytotoxic drugs. The drug induced lung disease presented as acute respiratory distress syndrome in two cases, alveolar interstitial lung disease in three cases, purely interstitial in five cases. There was acute respiratory failure (ARF) in eight cases and chronic respiratory failure (CRF) in two cases.

Theophylline disposition in patients with COLD with and without hypoxemia.

This study aimed to assess the effect of hypoxemia on theophylline disposition. Ten patients with a mean (+/- SEM) of 58 +/- 3 years with COLD (PaO2 55 +/- 1 mm Hg, PaCO2 46 +/- 2 mm Hg, and pH of 7.39 +/- 0.

Two-dimensional echocardiographic assessment of the right ventricle in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease.

A consecutive series of 40 patients (39 men, one woman; mean age 54.1 +/- 8.2 years) with chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) underwent right heart catheterization and 2-D echocardiographic examination within 72 hr.

[Shoshin beriberi with hyponatremia in a beer drinker].

Shoshin beriberi - a fulminant form of cardiovascular beriberi - and severe hyponatraemia were observed concomitantly in a heavy beer drinker. Hyponatraemia due to water overload and not to sodium deficiency is not a feature of the true beer drinker syndrome. Cardiogenic shock with major lactic acidosis developed.

[Value of isotopic methods in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction of the right ventricle].

In the left ventricle, isotope techniques can be used to study the perfusion of the myocardium or the ventricular function. Because of the thinness of the walls of the right heart, the classical examinations and Thallium 201 perfusion cannot be used to demonstrate a disorder of perfusion in the right ventricle. Nevertheless, it is possible, with the aid of Technetium 99m labeled pyrophosphate, to diagnose and localise necrosis of the inferior wall with an acceptable degree of sensitivity, during the acute phase of the infarction.

[Infarction of the right ventricle. Contribution of two-dimensional echocardiography].

This study, based on 39 cases, confirms the value of two-dimensional echocardiography in the diagnosis of right ventricular infarction during the acute phase. This diagnosis is confirmed by the presence of abnormalities of the segmental kinetics always present in the inferior wall and less frequently in the anterior wall. The inferior part of the septum is affected in two thirds of cases.