Inhaler mishandling remains common in real life and is associated with reduced disease control.

Proper inhaler technique is crucial for effective management of asthma and COPD. This multicentre, cross-sectional, observational study investigates the prevalence of inhaler mishandling in a large population of experienced patients referring to chest clinics; to analyze the variables associated with misuse and the relationship between inhaler handling and health-care resources use and disease control. We enrolled 1664 adult subjects (mean age 62 years) affected mostly by COPD (52%) and asthma (42%).

Smoking cessation in patients requiring bronchoscopy: the Bronchoscopy AntiSmoking Study (BASIS).

We investigated the readiness to quit and the smoking cessation rates of smokers requiring bronchoscopy and receiving advice quitting. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of two smoking cessation interventions, either a brief advice (control group), or a longer support, delivered at the time of bronchoscopy. We consecutively enrolled 233 adult smokers, regardless of the initial level of motivation to quit.

CD38 expression enhances sensitivity of lymphoma T and B cell lines to biochemical and receptor-mediated apoptosis.

CD38 has been widely characterised both as an ectoenzyme and as a receptor. In the present paper, we investigated the role of CD38 as possible modulator of apoptosis. CD38-positive (CD38(+)) and negative (CD38(-)) fractions, obtained by sorting CD38(+) cells from lymphoma T (Jurkat) and lymphoma B (Raji) and by transfecting lymphoma LG14 and myeloid leukemia K562 cell lines, were used.

Long-term oxygen therapy in chronic respiratory failure: a Multicenter Italian Study on Oxygen Therapy Adherence (MISOTA).

Background: The adherence to the prescribed oxygen therapy is difficult to obtain for patients on long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT). There is little information on the modalities of oxygen utilisation for patients on LTOT who are using liquid oxygen in real life.

Study Objective: Evaluation of the behaviour and the knowledge regarding LTOT in a large group of patients mainly using liquid oxygen.

Inhalation technique and variables associated with misuse of conventional metered-dose inhalers and newer dry powder inhalers in experienced adults.

Background: Pressurized metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) are often poorly used, but little information is available concerning use of the newer dry powder inhalers (DPIs).

Objective: To estimate the inhalation technique and variables associated with the misuse of pMDIs and newer DPIs in clinical practice.

Methods: A multicenter, observational survey was used to evaluate the inhalation technique in 1,404 experienced outpatients aged 15 to 88 years affected mostly by asthma (47%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (39%).