Pre-biologic disease trajectories are associated with morbidity burden and biologic treatment response in severe asthma.

Background: Biologics can induce remission in some patients with severe asthma, however, little is known about pre-biologic disease trajectories and their association with outcomes from biological treatment. We aimed to identify long-term trajectories of disease progression in patients initiating biologics and investigate trajectory associations with disease burden and impact on biologic therapy efficacy.

Methods: Patients in the Danish Severe Asthma Registry initiating biologic therapy between 2016-2022 were included and followed retrospectively in prescription databases starting 1995.

Alkaptonuria: a rare disease with multiorgan manifestation and a long-awaited diagnosis.

Alkaptonuria is a rare inherited disease resulting from a genetic variant leading to homogentisic acid accumulation in body tissues, causing a broad spectrum of symptoms. Our case involves a Caucasian male diagnosed in his 70s, who shares a constellation of symptoms and the diagnosis with his monozygotic twin brother. The symptoms include early-onset arthropathy, tendinopathy, osteopenia, discolouration of the auricular regions and fingers, scleral discolouration, secondary glaucoma, proteinuria, calcification of the mitral valve and black urethral and prostate stones.

Attendance rate and perceived relevance related to type, content, and delivery of current rehabilitation programmes after surgical resection for non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Surgical resection is the preferred treatment for localised non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Rehabilitation is central in the management of the associated impaired quality of life, high symptom burden, deconditioning, and social-existential vulnerability. Yet, optimal content and delivery of rehabilitation are not yet defined.

Pulmonologists-level lung cancer detection based on standard blood test results and smoking status using an explainable machine learning approach.

Lung cancer (LC) remains the primary cause of cancer-related mortality, largely due to late-stage diagnoses. Effective strategies for early detection are therefore of paramount importance. In recent years, machine learning (ML) has demonstrated considerable potential in healthcare by facilitating the detection of various diseases.

Real-Life Nationwide Outcomes of Bronchoscopic Lung Volume Reduction with Endobronchial Valves in Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death globally, characterized by airflow limitation and lung hyperinflation due to emphysema. Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) with endobronchial valves offers a minimally invasive treatment option for emphysema, aiming to reduce lung hyperinflation, thereby improving lung function and exercise tolerance.

Methods: This study evaluated the efficacy of BLVR in a real-life nationwide setting using comprehensive Danish registries.

A Bayesian Network Approach to Lung Cancer Screening: Assessing the Impact of Data Quantity, Quality, and the Combination of Data from Danish Electronic Health Records.

: Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer mortality, making early diagnosis essential. While LC screening trials are underway globally, optimal prediction models and inclusion criteria are still lacking. This study aimed to develop and evaluate Bayesian Network (BN) models for LC risk prediction using a decade of data from Denmark.

Early Reduction of FeNO on Anti-IL5 Biologics Is Associated With Clinical Remission of Severe Asthma.

Background: In patients with severe asthma, treatment with anti-interleukin-5 (IL-5) biologics can lead to a reduction in fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in some patients. The clinical implications of varying FeNO responses to anti-IL-5 biologics remain unclear. This study aims to categorise patients based on their FeNO response to anti-IL-5 biologics and evaluate the association of these categories with clinical outcomes.

Examining the impact of obstructive sleep apnea on cognitive function in severe COPD.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cognitive function in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: Patients with severe COPD, who had not previously been diagnosed with OSA, were recruited between January 2021 and January 2023. To evaluate cognitive function, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a continuous reaction time test (CRT) and a driving simulator were used.

Baseline Characteristics of Dupilumab-Treated Patients with Asthma in the Real World: The RAPID Global Registry.

Introduction: Patients with uncontrolled, moderate-to-severe asthma have a higher risk for exacerbations, negatively impacting lung function and quality of life. Dupilumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody, blocks interleukins 4 and 13, key and central drivers of type 2 inflammation. Dupilumab has been effective in the treatment of certain types of moderate-to-severe asthma across several clinical trials.

Longitudinal validation of King's Sarcoidosis Questionnaire in a prospective cohort with mild sarcoidosis.

Background: Quality of life is impaired in patients with sarcoidosis. The King's Sarcoidosis Questionnaire (KSQ) is a brief questionnaire assessing health-related quality of life in patients with sarcoidosis, comprising subdomains of General Health Status (GHS), Lung, Medication, Skin and Eyes. The aim of this study was to enhance the validation of the KSQ, incorporating longitudinal validation and known-groups validity in a cohort with mild sarcoidosis.

Long-term self-reported attendance in exercise training or lung choir and status of quality of life following initial pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD.

Background: Both adherence rates to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) programmes and long-term attendance in exercise training after PR remain a challenge. In our previous randomised controlled trial (RCT), effects were positively associated with a dose-response pattern, regardless of whether PR contained conventional physical exercise training (PExT) or Singing for Lung Health (SLH) as a training modality within a 10 weeks' PR programme for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, long-term status of this RCT cohort remains unknown.

Mortality Rate and Cause of Death in Adults with Extrapulmonary Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Infection, Denmark.

Evidence on mortality rates and causes of death associated with extrapulmonary nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection is limited. This nationwide register-based study in Denmark used diagnostic codes to match adult patients with extrapulmonary NTM infection 1:4 to controls. During 2000–2017, we identified 485 patients, who had significantly more comorbidities than controls.

Lung cancer among outpatients with COPD: a 7-year cohort study.

Introduction: Lung cancer (LC) is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and its prognosis upon metastasis remains poor. Patients with COPD face a significantly elevated LC risk, up to six times greater than those with normal lung function. We aimed to investigate LC prevalence and stage distribution among COPD outpatients.

Experiences of receiving a medical consultation - an interview study among hospitalized psychiatric patients.

Purpose: People with mental illness often experience more physical health problems, compared to the general population. Therefore, we conducted medical consultations to hospitalized psychiatric patients. The purpose of our study was to investigate experiences of medical consultations from a patient perspective.

Lung cancer: a nationwide analysis of sex and age incidence trends from 1980 to 2022.

Background: Lung cancer, once rare, has evolved into the global leading cause of cancer-related mortality, primarily driven by widespread cigarette smoking in the 20th century. This study explores the historical trends of lung cancer incidence in Denmark over four decades, emphasizing the impact of smoking prevalence, age, and gender on the observed patterns.

Materials And Methods: Drawing upon data from the Danish National Patient Register and information on smoking habits provided by the Danish Health Authority, this study investigates lung cancer incidence rates, demographic shifts, and smoking prevalence from 1980 to 2022.

Whole-blood culture-derived cytokine combinations for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Introduction: The diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) disease and TB infection (TBI) remains a challenge, and there is a need for non-invasive and blood-based methods to differentiate TB from conditions mimicking TB (CMTB), TBI, and healthy controls (HC). We aimed to determine whether combination of cytokines and established biomarkers could discriminate between 1) TB and CMTB 2) TB and TBI 3) TBI and HC.

Methods: We used hemoglobin, total white blood cell count, neutrophils, monocytes, C-reactive protein, and ten Meso Scale Discovery analyzed cytokines (interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, interferon (IFN)-ɣ, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α) in TruCulture whole blood tubes stimulated by lipopolysaccharides (LPS), zymosan (ZYM), anti-CD3/28 (CD3), and unstimulated (Null) to develop three index tests able to differentiate TB from CMTB and TBI, and TBI from HC.

FDG-PET/CT-based respiration-gated lung segmentation and quantification of lung inflammation in COPD patients.

Objective And Results Description: The study objective was to investigate the potential of quantitative measures of pulmonary inflammation by [18 F]Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) as a surrogate marker of inflammation in COPD. Patients treated with anti-inflammatory Liraglutide were compared to placebo and correlated with inflammatory markers. 27 COPD-patients (14 receiving Liraglutide treatment and 13 receiving placebo) underwent 4D-respiratory-gated FDG-PET/CT before and after treatment.

Titration of anti-IL-5 biologics in severe asthma: an open-label randomised controlled trial (the OPTIMAL study).

Background: Anti-interleukin (IL)-5 biologics effectively reduce exacerbations and the need for maintenance oral corticosteroids (mOCS) in severe eosinophilic asthma. However, it is unknown how long anti-IL-5 treatment should be continued. Data from clinical trials indicate a gradual but variable loss of control after treatment cessation.

Inhaled corticosteroid treatment and pneumonia in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - nationwide development from 1998 to 2018.

Background: A decreasing use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in patients with a hospital-registered diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has recently been documented in Denmark. ICS treatment is not recommended in patients with high pneumonia risk, and we aimed to assess the development of ICS treatment in relation to pneumonia occurrence.

Methods: Annual nationwide register-based cross-sectional studies from 1998 to 2018 including all patients ≥40 years of age with a hospital-registered ICD-10 diagnosis of COPD on the 31 of December each year.

Urban-rural and socio-economic differences in inhaled corticosteroid treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A nationwide register-based cross-sectional study.

Background: Urban-rural disparities within chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been documented in USA, but not in Europe. Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are widely used in COPD despite strict recommendations. We aimed to investigate urban-rural and socioeconomic differences in ICS treatment for COPD.

Identification of patients' smoking status using an explainable AI approach: a Danish electronic health records case study.

Background: Smoking is a critical risk factor responsible for over eight million annual deaths worldwide. It is essential to obtain information on smoking habits to advance research and implement preventive measures such as screening of high-risk individuals. In most countries, including Denmark, smoking habits are not systematically recorded and at best documented within unstructured free-text segments of electronic health records (EHRs).

Telephone follow-up as a substitute for standard out-clinic follow-up in CPAP therapy for obstructive sleep apnea patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: This study assessed the feasibility of telephone follow-up consultations (TC) using an online data sharing and editing function (Airview™), as alternative to standard out-clinic follow-up consultations (SC) on adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. Furthermore, we investigated compliance to follow-up consultations and examined potential influencing factors, including baseline AHI (apnea-hypopnea-index), age, and distance from home to the hospital on consultation compliance.

Methods: Two hundred OSA patients, with AHI 5 were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive TC or SC with follow-up after one month and 12 month of CPAP initiation.

[Not Available].

This review focuses on the treatment of nontuberculous pulmonary disease caused by Mycobacterium avium complex and M. abscessus. It covers treatment indications, antibiotic choice, resistance and side effects.