National expert consensus on short-acting beta-agonist overreliance in asthma care in Malaysia.

Objective: Inappropriate use of short-acting beta2-agonists (SABA) in asthma has been associated with undesired outcomes. This national expert consensus was developed to increase awareness of SABA overuse and provide recommendations on the ways to eliminate SABA overprescription and overreliance in Malaysia.

Data Sources: This expert consensus was developed by searching the PubMed database, using index terms to identify SABA overuse-related burden and recommendations made in asthma guidelines.

Management of Asthma Exacerbations in Southeast Asian Tertiary Care.

Background: There have been limited reports looking into the care of patients with asthma exacerbations admitted to tertiary hospitals in Southeast Asia. This study aims to determine the extent in which the 2019 Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines were being met.

Methods: A retrospective study of patients with asthma exacerbations admitted to the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur (PHKL), Malaysia from 1 July 2019 to 31 December 2019.

Anemia and performance status as prognostic markers in acute hypercapnic respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: In patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) during exacerbations of COPD, mortality can be high despite noninvasive ventilation (NIV). For some, AHRF is terminal and NIV is inappropriate. However there is no definitive method of identifying patients who are unlikely to survive.

Targeted Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Lung Transplantation in Cystic Fibrosis Patients Colonised with Pseudomonas aeruginosa Using Multiple Combination Bactericidal Testing.

Early infection is a recognised complication after lung transplantation in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Our centre uses multiple combination bactericidal testing (MCBT) when determining appropriate peritransplant prophylactic regimens. To evaluate our strategy, we compared the incidence of posttransplant infection in patients whose peritransplant antimicrobial regimens were determined using MCBT versus standard sensitivity testing.

Recurrent breast cancer and endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration.

A 67 years old female with previous breast cancer and a 40-pack year smoking history presented with recurrent lower respiratory tract infections on a background of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Despite a normal chest X-ray, the history of recurrent infections led to a high resolution computed tomography scan to exclude structural lung disease. This showed subcarinal lymphadenopathy, multiple nodules in the right lung and suggestion of lymphangitis.

Pulmonary hypertension and lung transplantation: Thorax publication activity review 2008-2010.

A review is presented on articles published in Thorax between 2008 and 2010 relating to lung transplantation and pulmonary hypertension.

Predicting end-of-life in patients with an exacerbation of COPD by routine clinical assessment.

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to determine if routine clinical assessment could reliably predict in-hospital death in patients admitted with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD).

Methods: In a case-crossover study the case records of AECOPD related deaths were reviewed. Clinical and laboratory variables including performance status (WHO-PS) and a composite physiological score (early warning score, EWS) at initial clinical assessment on final admission (FA) and penultimate admission (PA) for AECOPD were compared.