Airway closing index in school-age children during exercise bronchoprovocation.

Objective: Airway Closing Index (ACI), the ratio of % change in FVC to % change in FEV with bronchoprovocation, may represent changes in airflow due to airway closure, as opposed to airway narrowing. The objective of this study was to evaluate ACI during exercise bronchoprovocation (EB) in children.

Methods: Children, 6 to 18 years of age, who underwent EB using a stationary bicycle ergometer over a 6-year period were reviewed.

Incidence and prevalence of common respiratory pathogens before and after implementation of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Infection Prevention and Control Guideline.

Background: The 2013 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Infection Prevention and Control Guideline (CFF IP&C) was developed to reduce the risk of acquisition and transmission of respiratory pathogens in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF).

Objective: We hypothesised that the incidence of common CF respiratory pathogens would decrease at our centre after implementation of the guideline.

Methods: All patients with CF seen at our centre from August 2012 through August 2017 who had respiratory cultures were included.

Increased shedding of HU177 correlates with worse prognosis in primary melanoma.

Background: Increased levels of cryptic collagen epitope HU177 in the sera of melanoma patients have been shown to be associated with thicker primary melanomas and with the nodular histologic subtype. In this study, we investigate the association between HU177 shedding in the sera and clinical outcome in terms of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).

Methods: Serum samples from 209 patients with primary melanoma prospectively enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group at the New York University Langone Medical Center (mean age = 58, mean thickness = 2.