Hospital Cost Savings for Sequential COPD Patients Receiving Domiciliary Nasal High Flow Therapy.

Purpose: To estimate the 5-year budget impact to Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) hospitals of domiciliary nasal high flow (NHF) therapy to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who require long term oxygen therapy.

Methods: Hospital admission counts along with length of stay were obtained from hospital records of 200 COPD patients enrolled in a 12-month randomized clinical trial of NHF in Denmark, both over a 12-month baseline and then in the study period while on randomized treatment (control or NHF). NZ costings from similar COPD patients were estimated using data from Middlemore Hospital, Auckland and were applied to the Danish trial.

Development in PaCO over 12 months in patients with COPD with persistent hypercapnic respiratory failure treated with high-flow nasal cannula-post-hoc analysis from a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Persistent hypercapnic failure in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with poor prognosis. Long-term home non-invasive ventilation is recommended for patients with PaCO >7.0 kPa.

Intravenous immunoglobulin significantly reduces exposure of concomitantly administered anti-C5 monoclonal antibody tesidolumab.

Awareness of drug-drug interactions is critical in organ transplant recipient management. However, biologic agents interfering with monoclonal antibodies is not widely considered. We report the effect of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) on safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) of the human anti-C5 monoclonal antibody tesidolumab (LFG316) in end-stage renal disease patients awaiting kidney transplant.

Assessment of the anti-CD40 antibody iscalimab in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, proof-of-concept study.

Background: Primary Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease that presents as dryness of the mouth and eyes due to impairment of the exocrine glands. To our knowledge, no systemic therapies for primary Sjögren's syndrome have shown efficacy. CD40-CD154-mediated T cell-B cell interactions in primary Sjögren's syndrome contribute to aberrant lymphocyte activation in inflamed tissue, leading to sialadenitis and other tissue injury.

Comparison of pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of secukinumab administered subcutaneously using different delivery systems in healthy volunteers and in psoriasis patients.

Aims: The aim of the study was to compare the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety and tolerability of secukinumab with different devices for subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of 2 mL.

TORC1 inhibition enhances immune function and reduces infections in the elderly.

Inhibition of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein kinase extends life span and ameliorates aging-related pathologies including declining immune function in model organisms. The objective of this phase 2a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was to determine whether low-dose mTOR inhibitor therapy enhanced immune function and decreased infection rates in 264 elderly subjects given the study drugs for 6 weeks. A low-dose combination of a catalytic (BEZ235) plus an allosteric (RAD001) mTOR inhibitor that selectively inhibits target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) downstream of mTOR was safe and was associated with a significant ( = 0.

Long-term effects of oxygen-enriched high-flow nasal cannula treatment in COPD patients with chronic hypoxemic respiratory failure.

Background: This study investigated the long-term effects of humidified high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) in COPD patients with chronic hypoxemic respiratory failure treated with long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT).

Patients And Methods: A total of 200 patients were randomized into usual care ± HFNC. At inclusion, acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) and hospital admissions 1 year before inclusion, modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) score, St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV), 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO) were recorded.

Dry Eye Signs and Symptoms Persist During Systemic Neutralization of IL-1β by Canakinumab or IL-17A by Secukinumab.

Purpose: To evaluate whether inhibition of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β or IL-17A by canakinumab or secukinumab, respectively, influence the signs and symptoms of dry eye.

Methods: In a randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled, outpatient clinical trial, 72 patients with moderate to severe dry eye were randomly assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to treatment with a single intravenous dose of canakinumab, of secukinumab, or of placebo. Signs and symptoms of dry eye were evaluated on the treatment day and 1 week, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks after treatment.

Phase 3 trial of domiciliary humidification to mitigate acute mucosal toxicity during radiation therapy for head-and-neck cancer: first report of Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG) 07.03 RadioHUM study.

Purpose: To assess the impact of domicile-based humidification on symptom burden during radiation therapy (RT) for head-and-neck (H&N) cancer.

Methods And Materials: From June 2007 through June 2011, 210 patients with H&N cancer receiving RT were randomized to either a control arm or to receive humidification using the Fisher & Paykel Healthcare MR880 humidifier. Humidification commenced on day 1 of RT and continued until Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), version 3.