Elevated blood lactate in COPD exacerbations associates with adverse clinical outcomes and signals excessive treatment with β -agonists.

Background And Objective: Raised blood lactate secondary to high dose β -agonist treatment has been reported in asthma exacerbations but has not been investigated during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD). We explored associations of blood lactate measurements with disease outcomes and β -agonist treatments during AECOPD.

Methods: Retrospective (n = 199) and prospective studies (n = 142) of patients hospitalized with AECOPD were conducted.

Lung function: population epidemiology and concordance in Australian children aged 11-12 years and their parents.

Objectives: To describe the epidemiology of lung function in Australian children aged 11-12 years and their parents, and explore the degree of intergenerational concordance.

Design: Cross-sectional study (the Child Health CheckPoint) nested in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC).

Setting: Assessment centres in seven Australian cities and eight regional towns, February 2015 to March 2016.

C-reactive protein levels in acute respiratory exacerbations of cystic fibrosis.

C-reactive protein (CRP) levels increase in response to bacterial infection and have been used to guide the use of antibiotics. We assessed CRP levels in a cohort of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) admitted to hospital with an exacerbation of their lung disease, requiring treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics. In this group, most subjects had CRP levels of less than 20 mg/L, including patients who had pneumonia.