Publications by authors named "Detlef Kirsten"
Background: Quality of life (QoL) is significantly impaired in patients with pulmonary fibrosis, however reliable tools to assess QoL issues specific for this group of patients are still missing. We thus aimed to develop a new questionnaire called "Quality of life in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis" (QPF) to measure QoL in patients with fibrotic idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIP).
Methods: An item pool was created on the basis of a German expert group with support of patients suffering from pulmonary fibrosis.
Background: A thorough diagnostic process is essential with regard to prognosis and treatment of the more than 200 different types of interstitial lung diseases (ILD). Key to this complex process is a comprehensive medical history. For this, a template is recommended and questionnaires are increasingly used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Little is known about physical activity in daily life among patients with sarcoidosis. Fatigue is a frequent and disabling symptom that might negatively affect physical activity levels.
Methods: In patients with sarcoidosis, we measured physical activity (steps per day) by accelerometry (SenseWear Armband) for 1 week.
Background: Physical activity (PA) is associated with disease severity in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), but longitudinal studies evaluating its prognostic value and changes over time are lacking.
Methods: We measured PA (steps per day, SPD) in a cohort of 46 IPF-patients (mean age, 67 years; mean FVC, 76.1%pred.
Background: Little is known about the consequences of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) for physical activity (PA).
Objectives: We aimed to investigate levels of PA in IPF and to study associations of PA with lung function, exercise capacity, symptoms, and quality of life.
Methods: In stable patients with IPF we measured PA (steps per day, SPD; physical activity level, PAL; minutes of moderate activity, MMA) by accelerometry (SenseWear Armband) for 1 week.
Rationale: Sporadic lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is an orphan lung disease for which daily physical activity has not been studied so far and it is unclear whether a disease-specific impact beyond airflow limitation exists. Clinical correlates indicating reduced physical activity in addition to established parameters like airflow limitation and hypoxaemia are largely undetermined.
Method: We measured physical activity (steps per day, SPD; physical activity level, PAL; minutes of moderate activity, MMA) in 34 women with LAM, 32 FEV1-matched female patients with COPD and 15 age-matched healthy women for 1 week using an accelerometer.
Background: Increasing evidence suggests a role of gastro-oesophageal reflux (GER) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) pathogenesis. Recently, an association between serum Helicobacter pylori (HP) antibody positivity and more severe disease was described, but HP has not been directly analysed in lung tissue so far.
Objective: To investigate the presence of HP in the lung tissue of IPF patients.
Background: Extrapulmonary involvement by sarcoidosis is observed in about 30-40% of patients with sarcoidosis. Little is known about the frequency and clinical characteristics of sinonasal sarcoidosis.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 12 cases of biopsy-proven sinonasal sarcoidosis.
Human TLR1 plays an important role in host defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our aim was to analyze the association of the loss of TLR1 surface expression and TLR1 SNPs with susceptibility to TB. TLR1neg and TLR1pos cells from healthy individuals were identified by flow cytometry and compared by sequencing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease of unknown origin. Pathogenetic involvement of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has frequently been discussed in the aetiology of sarcoidosis; however, studies still remain contradictory.
Objective: We addressed the question of mycobacterial involvement in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis by analysing cellular immune responses to mycobacterial antigens.
Rationale: The rapid diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is difficult when acid fast bacilli (AFB) cannot be detected in sputum smears.
Objectives: Following a proof of principle study, we examined in routine clinical practice whether individuals with sputum AFB smear-negative TB can be discriminated from those with latent TB infection by local immunodiagnosis with a Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay.
Methods: Subjects suspected of having active TB who were unable to produce sputum or with AFB-negative sputum smears were prospectively enrolled at Tuberculosis Network European Trialsgroup centers in Europe.
We evaluated risk factors and treatment outcomes associated with multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) in Germany in 2004-2006. In 177 (4%) of 4,557 culture-positive TB cases, Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were identified as MDR TB; an additional 7 (0.15%) met criteria for XDR TB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRapid diagnosis of smear-negative tuberculosis by bronchoalveolar lavage enzyme-linked immunospot.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med
November 2006
Rationale: In a large proportion of patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (pTB), acid-fast bacilli smear results for sputum and bronchial secretions are negative. Detectable growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in cultures takes several weeks and MTB-specific DNA amplification results on sputum and bronchial secretions are variable in these patients.
Objective: We investigated whether a rapid diagnosis of pTB can be established by enumeration of MTB-specific mononuclear cells from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid in routine clinical practice.
Background And Aim Of The Study: Patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis can benefit from inhaled corticosteroids. In this study we assessed the effect of beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP), administered as extrafine, HFA(hydrofluoroalkane)-driven aerosol with high peripheral deposition, on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) lymphocyte numbers, as a marker of the disease.
Methods: Fifteen patients with newly-diagnosed pulmonary sarcoidosis (Stages I-III) received either BDP 800 microg daily (n = 6) or placebo (n = 9) for 6 months in a parallel-group design.
The 6-min walking (6MWD) and 6-min treadmill distance (6MTD) are often used as measures of exercise performance in patients with COPD. The aim of our study was to assess their relationship to daily activity in the course of an exercise training program. Eighty-eight patients with stable COPD (71m/17f; mean +/- SD age, 60 +/-8 year; FEV1, 43+/-14% pred) were recruited, 66 of whom performed a hospital-based 10-day walking training, whereas 22 were treated as control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim Of Study: To evaluate patient profiles, diagnostic approaches, and treatment strategies in patients with lymph node tuberculosis.
Methods: Demographic data, diagnostic findings, and therapies were retrospectively analyzed in 60 patients with lymph node tuberculosis who were hospitalized between 1992 and 1999.
Results: Thirty percent (n = 18) of patients were natives, and 70% were immigrants (n = 42).