Gout increases length of stay in patients hospitalized for heart failure exacerbation.

Background: It is unclear whether patients with a history of gout have longer hospitalizations in general, or only when suffering a flare. This study examines the effect of gout diagnosis and gout flare on the length of stay (LoS) in patients admitted for heart failure (HF) exacerbation.

Methods: We conducted a matched retrospective cohort study and searched electronic medical records for patients admitted for HF with a prior diagnosis of gout from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2017 and matched them to patients admitted for HF without gout.

Autoimmunity and Inflammation Link to Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have a 50% increased risk of cardiovascular (CV)-related morbidity and mortality. This excess CV risk is closely linked to RA disease severity and chronic inflammation, hence is largely underestimated by traditional risk calculators such as the Framingham Risk Score. Epidemiological studies have shown that patients with RA are more likely to have silent ischemic heart disease, develop heart failure, and experience sudden death compared with controls.

Detection and classification of systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease: a review.

Purpose Of Review: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a heterogeneous disease with a variable disease course. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with SSc. The present review highlights recent advances in the classification, diagnosis, and early detection of SSc-associated ILD (SSc-ILD).

Redefining end of test (EOT) criteria for pulmonary function testing in children.

In order for an individual FVC maneuver to be considered acceptable according to the 1994 American Thoracic Society (ATS) standards it must meet end of test (EOT) criteria of a minimum expiration time of 6 s with minimal volume change (0.03 L) over 1 s. We have found that while these criteria are often not met in children, most of the tests do meet the ATS criteria for reproducibility with repeated efforts.

The simplified version of Boyle's Law leads to errors in the measurement of thoracic gas volume.

When using Boyle's Law for thoracic gas volume (Vtg) measurement, it is generally assumed that the alveolar pressure (Palv) does not differ from barometric pressure (Pbar) at the start of rarefaction and compression and that the product of the change in volume and pressure (delta P x delta V) is negligibly small. In a gentle panting maneuver in which the difference between Palv and Pbar is small, errors introduced by these assumptions are likely to be small; however, this is not the case when Vtg is measured using a single vigorous inspiratory effort. Discrepancies in the Vtg between the "complex" version of Boyle's Law, which does not ignore delta P x delta V and accounts for large swings in Palv, and the "simplified" version, during both a panting maneuver and a single inspiratory effort were calculated for normal control subjects and patients with cystic fibrosis or asthma.