A Prospective Observational Study of Hypogammaglobulinemia in the First Year After Lung Transplantation.

Background: Immunosuppressive therapies have led to improved survival for lung transplant (LT) recipients but these therapies can lead to hypogammaglobulinemia (HGG) and potentially an increased risk of infection. Large prospective studies have not been performed to evaluate the impact of HGG on outcomes for LT recipients.

Methods: This is a single-center prospective observational study of LT recipients.

A novel scoring system to distinguish vocal cord dysfunction from asthma.

Background: Vocal cord dysfunction is often misdiagnosed and mistreated as asthma, which can lead to increased and unnecessary medication use and increased health care utilization.

Objective: To develop a valid scoring index that could help distinguish vocal cord dysfunction from asthma.

Methods: We compared the demographics, comorbidities, clinical symptoms, and symptom triggers of subjects with vocal cord dysfunction (n = 89) and those with asthma (n = 59).