Publications by authors named "Felipe Villar-Alvarez"
Article Synopsis
- The ANTES B+ study evaluates whether adding an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) to a combination of long-acting beta agonist (LABA) and long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) improves clinical control in GOLD B COPD patients who are still symptomatic despite current treatment.
- It will involve 1028 patients who will either continue their current LABA/LAMA regimen or switch to a new triple therapy for a year, measuring outcomes like clinical control, exacerbation rates, and lung function.
- The study is significant as it is the first to test this approach in a specific COPD patient group and to use a composite index to measure primary outcomes, with results expected by early 2026.
Heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are two chronic diseases with the greatest adverse impact on the general population, and early detection of their decompensation is an important objective. However, very few diagnostic models have achieved adequate diagnostic performance. The aim of this trial was to develop diagnostic models of decompensated heart failure or COPD exacerbation with machine learning techniques based on physiological parameters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCan a Telemedicine Program Reduce the Number of Admissions in the Second and Third Month After Hospital Discharge for an Exacerbation of COPD Compared to a Conventional Follow-up System?
Open Respir Arch
November 2022
Objective: To decrease readmissions at 30 and 90 days post-discharge from a hospital admission for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation (COPDE) through the home care model of the Ambulatory Chronic Respiratory Care Unit (ACRCU), increase patient survival at one year, and validate our readmission risk scale (RRS).
Materials And Methods: This was an observational study, with a prospective data collection and a retrospective data analysis. A total of 491 patients with a spirometry diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requiring hospitalisation for an exacerbation were included in the study.
Immunosenescence is the gradual deterioration of the immune system caused by advancing age. It is associated with a reduced ability to respond to infections and develop long-term immune memory. It plays a key role in the development of respiratory diseases that are more common in older people, such as asthma, COPD, diffuse interstitial disease and respiratory infections in the elderly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study investigates the role of arginase, an enzyme linked to inflammation, in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) during stable periods and exacerbations.
- Results indicate that arginase activity increases significantly during COPD exacerbations, correlating with elevated levels of the inflammatory marker IL-6.
- Even three months post-exacerbation, IL-6 and IL-8 levels, as well as arginase activity, remain high, suggesting arginase may play a role in the progression of COPD.
The Spanish Society of Pneumonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) has elaborated this document of recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination in patients with respiratory diseases aimed to help healthcare personnel make decisions about how to act in case of COVID-19 vaccination in these patients.The recommendations have been developed by a group of experts in this field after reviewing the materials published up to March 7, 2021, the information provided by different scientific societies, drug agencies and the strategies of the governmental bodies up to this date.We can conclude that COVID-19 vaccines are not only safe and effective, but also prior in vulnerable patients with chronic respiratory diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFirst and Second Waves of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Madrid, Spain: Clinical Characteristics and Hematological Risk Factors Associated With Critical/Fatal Illness.
Crit Care Explor
February 2021
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the clinical characteristics and risk biomarkers of COVID-19 severity in patients admitted to a tertiary-care center during two distinct waves of infection in Madrid.
- It compares data from patients admitted in the first wave (March 2020) and the second wave (July-August 2020), noting key differences in age, comorbidities, and the progression of illness.
- Key findings include that while certain blood markers (like interleukin-6 and d-dimer) were consistently correlated with disease severity, their predictive value varied significantly between the two waves, limiting the ability to apply prediction models from the first wave to the second.
Background: Several studies suggest that statins, besides reducing cardiovascular disease, have anti-inflammatory properties which might provide a benefit in downregulating the immune response after a respiratory viral infection (RVI) and, hence, decreasing subsequent complications. We aim to analyse the effect of statins on mortality after RVI.
Methods: A single-centre, observational and retrospective study was carried out including all adult patients with a RVI confirmed by PCR tests from October 2, 2017 to May 20, 2018.
Introduction: Tocilizumab (TCZ) is an interleukin-6 receptor antagonist, which has been used for the treatment of severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia (SSP), which aims to ameliorate the cytokine release syndrome (CRS) induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, there are no consistent data about who might benefit most from it.
Methods: We administered TCZ on a compassionate-use basis to patients with SSP who were hospitalized (excluding intensive care and intubated cases) and who required oxygen support to have a saturation >93%.
Background: current algorithms for the detection of heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations have poor performance.
Methods: this study was designed as a prospective longitudinal trial. Physiological parameters were evaluated at rest and effort (walking) in patients who were in the exacerbation or stable phases of HF or COPD.
Do not do in COPD: consensus statement on overuse.
Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis
September 2018