Multi-modal Latent-Space Self-alignment for Super-Resolution Cardiac MR Segmentation.

2D cardiac MR cine images provide data with a high signal-to-noise ratio for the segmentation and reconstruction of the heart. These images are frequently used in clinical practice and research. However, the segments have low resolution in the through-plane direction, and standard interpolation methods are unable to improve resolution and precision.

Candida spp. co-infection in COVID-19 patients with severe pneumonia: Prevalence study and associated risk factors.

Background: Invasive fungal infections (IFI) are increasing in prevalence in recent years. In the last few months, the rise of COVID-19 patients has generated a new escalation in patients presenting opportunistic mycoses, mainly by Aspergillus. Candida infections are not being reported yet.

Prevalence of opportunistic invasive aspergillosis in COVID-19 patients with severe pneumonia.

Background: As the global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) spreads across the world, new clinical challenges emerge in the hospital landscape. Among these challenges, the increased risk of coinfections is a major threat to the patients. Although still in a low number, due to the short time of the pandemic, studies that identified a significant number of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 who developed secondary fungal infections that led to serious complications and even death have been published.

Deep Learning-Based Detection and Correction of Cardiac MR Motion Artefacts During Reconstruction for High-Quality Segmentation.

Segmenting anatomical structures in medical images has been successfully addressed with deep learning methods for a range of applications. However, this success is heavily dependent on the quality of the image that is being segmented. A commonly neglected point in the medical image analysis community is the vast amount of clinical images that have severe image artefacts due to organ motion, movement of the patient and/or image acquisition related issues.

How and when to use inhaled corticosteroids in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

Inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) are widely used in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Since inflammatory processes play a key role in the pathogenesis of the disease and ICSs have been shown to be very effective in controlling asthma, their use in COPD patients has become widespread. However, their efficacy in COPD is more limited than in asthma, since the type of inflammation in COPD is predominantly neutrophilic and resistant to corticosteroids.

Prevalence and characteristics of three clinical phenotypes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Aim: To determine the prevalence and analyze the most relevant clinical characteristics of three clinical phenotypes of COPD: emphysema (type 1), chronic bronchitis (type 2) or COPD-asthma (type 3).

Method: Observational, multicenter study performed with 331 COPD patients recruited in pulmonology outpatient services. The stratification in three phenotypes was performed with imaging tests, pulmonary function, and a standardized clinical questionnaire.

Difficulties in differential diagnosis of COPD and asthma in primary care.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma treatment must be based on appropriate diagnosis. However, patients receiving inhaled therapy in primary care may not be accurately diagnosed according to current guidelines.

Aim: To analyse the characteristics of patients treated with inhaled medication, the concordance of tools for differential diagnosis, and the adequacy of prescription of inhaled corticosteroids (ICs) in primary care.

Health-related quality of life in outpatient women with COPD in daily practice: the MUVICE Spanish study.

Aims: A cross-sectional multicenter study was designed to assess health-related quality of life (HRQL) in women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who were attended in the outpatient setting in actual conditions of the daily practice.

Methods: A total of 1786 women with COPD (mean age of 66.5 years) and 1661 pairs of men and women matched by age and COPD severity participated in a cross-sectional study.

Usefulness of inspiratory capacity measurement in COPD patients in the primary care setting.

Objective: To determine if inspiratory capacity (IC) assessment could be useful for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patient management in the primary care setting.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 93 patients diagnosed with COPD according to Spanish Thoracic Society (SEPAR) criteria. Patients were recruited in eight primary care centers in Andalusia, Spain.