Variability in Quality of Life Outcomes Following a Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program in Patients With COPD.

Purpose: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) improves exercise tolerance in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, it is unclear why some patients do not improve quality of life during a training program. Our objective was to evaluate the differences between patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who improve and those who do not improve quality of life during a pulmonary rehabilitation program.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Elderly Patients.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is prevalent in the elderly population, with high impact on quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. The diagnosis is usually made based on symptoms and spirometry values that support the presence of airflow obstruction. However, the condition is frequently underdiagnosed.

Volumetric MRI of the lungs during forced expiration.

Purpose: Lung function is typically characterized by spirometer measurements, which do not offer spatially specific information. Imaging during exhalation provides spatial information but is challenging due to large movement over a short time. The purpose of this work is to provide a solution to lung imaging during forced expiration using accelerated magnetic resonance imaging.

Longitudinal changes in handgrip strength, hyperinflation, and 6-minute walk distance in patients with COPD and a control group.

Background: In COPD, a decreased inspiratory capacity to total lung capacity ratio (IC/TLC) is associated with dynamic hyperinflation and poor exercise capacity. The association with upper-extremity force measured by handgrip strength (HGS) and 6-min walk distance (6MWD) has not been previously described. We hypothesized that IC/TLC affects muscle strength in the upper and lower extremities, affecting HGS and 6MWD.

Tubing length for long-term oxygen therapy.

Background: Most patients on long-term oxygen therapy use stationary oxygen delivery systems. It is not uncommon for guidelines to instruct patients to use tubing lengths no longer than 19.68 ft (6 m) when using an oxygen concentrator and 49.

Inflammatory and repair serum biomarker pattern: association to clinical outcomes in COPD.

Background: The relationship between serum biomarkers and clinical expressions of COPD is limited. We planned to further describe this association using markers of inflammation and injury and repair.

Methods: We studied lung function, comorbidities, exercise tolerance, BODE index, and quality of life in 253 COPD patients and recorded mortality over three years.

Respiratory muscle assessment in predicting extubation outcome in patients with stroke.

Background: Patients with cerebral infarction often present impaired consciousness and unsatisfactory extubation. We aimed to assess the respiratory mechanics components that might be associated with the success of extubation in stroke patients.

Methods: Twenty consecutive patients with stroke who needed mechanical ventilation support were enrolled.

WITHDRAWN: Respiratory Muscle Assessment in Predicting Extubation Outcome in Patients With Stroke.

The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an article that has already been published, doi:10.1016/j.arbr.

Resting handgrip force and impaired cardiac function at rest and during exercise in COPD patients.

Background: Cardiac function measured as the oxygen pulse (O(2) pulse) is impaired during exercise (CPET) in patients with COPD. We investigated the relationship between handgrip force and O(2) pulse in COPD and controls.

Methods: We measured anthropometrics, lung function, respiratory muscle force, handgrip (HG) force and fat free mass (FFM) at rest in 18 men with COPD (FEV(1)%=45±20) and 15 controls.

Prolonged mechanical ventilation in Massachusetts: the 2006 prevalence survey.

Background: Prolonged mechanical ventilation and home ventilation impose unique challenges on patients, families, and the healthcare system. In the absence of a centralized database to track prolonged and home ventilation, there has been a paucity of prevalence studies, and what is known is outdated. We surveyed respiratory care managers working in the state of Massachusetts to estimate the prevalence and locations of prolonged and home ventilation in 2006.

Upper limb exercises using varied workloads and their association with dynamic hyperinflation in patients with COPD.

Background: Increased ventilation during upper limb exercises (ULE) in patients with COPD is associated with dynamic hyperinflation (DH) and a decrease in inspiratory capacity (IC). The best level of ULE load training is still unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the dynamic hyperinflation development during ULE using three constant workloads.

The effect of bronchodilators and oxygen alone and in combination on self-paced exercise performance in stable COPD.

Both oxygen therapy and bronchodilators reduce exertional breathlessness and improve exercise tolerance in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However their relative effectiveness and the value of their combined use on exercise performance has not been assessed. The effects of 5 mg of salbutamol plus 500 microg ipratropium bromide nebulisation followed by a 6-min walking test while breathing O(2) were studied in a randomised, single-blind, placebo controlled, crossover trial in 28 patients with severe or very severe COPD, breathless on exertion and with oxygen saturation < or = 89% at rest or on exercise.

Effect of bosentan treatment on surrogate markers in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the oral dual ET(A)/ET(B) receptor antagonist bosentan on different surrogate markers in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Design And Setting: Prospective, open label, uncontrolled study in a University Hospital in Brazil.

Population: Fifteen PAH patients (11 females) with mean age of 40 +/- 11 years (5 in WHO functional class II, 10 in class III).