Quantitative F-FDG PET-CT can assess presence and extent of interstitial lung disease in early severe diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis.

Background: This study aimed to assess the quantitative uptake of F-FDG PET-CT in the lungs of patients with early severe diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (SSc) with and without interstitial lung disease (ILD), compared to controls. In patients with SSc-ILD, F-FDG uptake was correlated to high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted, involving 15 patients with SSc-ILD, 5 patients with SSc without ILD, and 7 controls without SSc.

Optimisation of detecting chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension in acute pulmonary embolism survivors: the InShape IV study.

Introduction: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is often diagnosed late in acute pulmonary embolism survivors: more efficient testing to expedite diagnosis may considerably improve patient outcomes. The InShape II algorithm safely rules out CTEPH (failure rate 0.29%) while requiring echocardiography in only 19% of patients but may be improved by adding detailed reading of the computed tomography pulmonary angiography diagnosing the index pulmonary embolism.

Whole blood transcriptome in long-COVID patients reveals association with lung function and immune response.

Background: Months after infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, at least 10% of patients still experience complaints. Long-COVID (coronavirus disease 2019) is a heterogeneous disease, and clustering efforts revealed multiple phenotypes on a clinical level. However, the molecular pathways underlying long-COVID phenotypes are still poorly understood.

Long COVID exhibits clinically distinct phenotypes at 3-6 months post-SARS-CoV-2 infection: results from the P4O2 consortium.

Background: Four months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, 22%-50% of COVID-19 patients still experience complaints. Long COVID is a heterogeneous disease and finding subtypes could aid in optimising and developing treatment for the individual patient.

Methods: Data were collected from 95 patients in the P4O2 COVID-19 cohort at 3-6 months after infection.

The Incidence of Pulmonary Embolism in Hospitalized Non-ICU Patients with COVID-19 during the First Wave: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study in the Netherlands.

Introduction: During the first COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 in the Netherlands, the incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) appeared to be high in COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). This study was performed to evaluate the incidence of PE during hospital stay in COVID-19 patients not admitted to the ICU.

Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from 8 hospitals in the Netherlands.

Pulmonary function 3-6 months after acute COVID-19: A systematic review and multicentre cohort study.

Aims: To describe pulmonary function 3-6 months following acute COVID-19, to evaluate potential predictors of decreased pulmonary function and to review literature for the effect of COVID-19 on pulmonary function.

Materials And Methods: A systematic review and cohort study were conducted. Within the P4O2 COVID-19 cohort, 95 patients aged 40-65 years were recruited from outpatient post-COVID-19 clinics in five Dutch hospitals between May 2021-September 2022.

Clinical Correlates of a Nonplexiform Vasculopathy in Patients With a Diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Background: The clinical phenotype of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) has changed. Whether subgroups of patients with IPAH have different vascular phenotypes is a subject of debate.

Research Question: What are the histologic patterns and their clinical correlates in patients with a diagnosis of IPAH or hereditary pulmonary arterial hypertension?

Study Design And Methods: In this this cross-sectional registry study, lung histology of 50 patients with IPAH was assessed qualitatively by two experienced pathologists.

Clinical-imaging-pathological correlation in pulmonary hypertension associated with left heart disease.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is highly prevalent in patients with left heart disease (LHD) and negatively impacts prognosis. The most common causes of PH associated with LHD (PH-LHD) are left heart failure and valvular heart disease. In LHD, passive backward transmission of increased left-sided filling pressures leads to isolated post-capillary PH.

Correlation between Serum Biomarkers and Lung Ultrasound in COVID-19: An Observational Study.

Serum biomarkers and lung ultrasound are important measures for prognostication and treatment allocation in patients with COVID-19. Currently, there is a paucity of studies investigating relationships between serum biomarkers and ultrasonographic biomarkers derived from lung ultrasound. This study aims to assess correlations between serum biomarkers and lung ultrasound findings.

Long-term effects of pulmonary endarterectomy on pulmonary hemodynamics, cardiac function, and exercise capacity in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Background: Long-term changes in exercise capacity and cardiopulmonary hemodynamics after pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) have been poorly described.

Methods: We analyzed the data from 2 prospective surgical CTEPH cohorts in Hammersmith Hospital, London, and Amsterdam UMC. A structured multimodal follow-up was adopted, consisting of right heart catheterization, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing before and after PEA.

The alveolar fibroproliferative response in moderate to severe COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome and 1-yr follow-up.

COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) can lead to long-term pulmonary fibrotic lesions. Alveolar fibroproliferative response (FPR) is a key factor in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. N-terminal peptide of procollagen III (NT-PCP-III) is a validated biomarker for activated FPR in ARDS.

Long-Term Effects of Pulmonary Endarterectomy on Right Ventricular Stiffness and Fibrosis in Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background: Surgical removal of thromboembolic material by pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) leads within months to the improvement of right ventricular (RV) function in the majority of patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. However, RV mass does not always normalize. It is unknown whether incomplete reversal of RV remodeling results from extracellular matrix expansion (diffuse interstitial fibrosis) or cellular hypertrophy, and whether residual RV remodeling relates to altered diastolic function.

Precision Medicine for More Oxygen (P4O2)-Study Design and First Results of the Long COVID-19 Extension.

: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to the death of almost 7 million people, however, with a cumulative incidence of 0.76 billion, most people survive COVID-19. Several studies indicate that the acute phase of COVID-19 may be followed by persistent symptoms including fatigue, dyspnea, headache, musculoskeletal symptoms, and pulmonary functional-and radiological abnormalities.

Persistent alveolar inflammatory response in critically ill patients with COVID-19 is associated with mortality.

Introduction: Patients with COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) show limited systemic hyperinflammation, but immunomodulatory treatments are effective. Little is known about the inflammatory response in the lungs and if this could be targeted using high-dose steroids (HDS). We aimed to characterise the alveolar immune response in patients with COVID-19-related ARDS, to determine its association with mortality, and to explore the association between HDS treatment and the alveolar immune response.

Age-related changes in plasma biomarkers and their association with mortality in COVID-19.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-induced mortality occurs predominantly in older patients. Several immunomodulating therapies seem less beneficial in these patients. The biological substrate behind these observations is unknown.

A Systematic Review of Chest Imaging Findings in Long COVID Patients.

Long COVID is the persistence of one or more COVID-19 symptoms after the initial viral infection, and there is evidence supporting its association with lung damage. In this systematic review, we provide an overview of lung imaging and its findings in long COVID patients. A PubMed search was performed on 29 September 2021, for English language studies in which lung imaging was performed in adults suffering from long COVID.

Right Ventricular Function During Exercise After Pulmonary Endarterectomy for Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension improves resting hemodynamics and right ventricular (RV) function. Because exercise tolerance frequently remains impaired, RV function may not have completely normalized after PEA. Therefore, we performed a detailed invasive hemodynamic study to investigate the effect of PEA on RV function during exercise.

High flow nasal cannula for acute respiratory failure due to COVID-19 in patients with a 'do-not-intubate' order: A survival analysis.

Introduction: High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) reduces the need for intubation in patients with hypoxaemic acute respiratory failure (ARF), but its added value in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and a do-not-intubate (DNI) order is unknown. We aimed to assess (variables associated with) survival in these patients.

Materials And Methods: We described a multicentre retrospective observational cohort study in five hospitals in the Netherlands and assessed the survival in COVID-19 patients with severe acute respiratory failure and a DNI order who were treated with high flow nasal cannula.

Novel tracers for molecular imaging of interstitial lung disease: A state of the art review.

Interstitial lung disease is an overarching term for a wide range of disorders characterized by inflammation and/or fibrosis in the lungs. Most prevalent forms, among others, include idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and connective tissue disease associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD). Currently, only disease modifying treatment options are available for IPF and progressive fibrotic CTD-ILD, leading to reduction or stabilization in the rate of lung function decline at best.

Development of an international standard set of outcome measures for patients with venous thromboembolism: an International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement consensus recommendation.

The International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement assembled an international working group of venous thromboembolism experts and patient representatives to develop a standardised minimum set of outcomes and outcome measurements for integration into clinical practice and potentially research to support clinical decision making and benchmarking of quality of care. 15 core outcomes important to patients and health-care professionals were selected and categorised into four domains: patient-reported outcomes, long term consequences of the disease, disease-specific complications, and treatment-related complications. The outcomes and outcome measures were designed to apply to all patients with venous thromboembolism aged 16 years or older.

Neurofilament light increases over time in severe COVID-19 and is associated with delirium.

Neurological monitoring in sedated Intensive Care Unit patients is constrained by the lack of reliable blood-based biomarkers. Neurofilament light is a cross-disease biomarker for neuronal damage with potential clinical applicability for monitoring Intensive Care Unit patients. We studied the trajectory of neurofilament light over a month in Intensive Care Unit patients diagnosed with severe COVID-19 and explored its relation to clinical outcomes and pathophysiological predictors.