A 30-Year-Old Woman With Arthralgia, Progressive Dyspnea, and a Syncope Episode.

A 30-year-old White woman with presumed rheumatoid arthritis accompanied by CT scan evidence of eosinophilic pneumonitis was referred to the ED by her rheumatologist for an investigation of the progression of dyspnea. Approximately 6 months before, the patient reported experiencing diffuse interphalangeal arthralgias (both proximal and distal) that affected the wrists, knees, and feet. These symptoms were accompanied by Modified Medical Research Council scale grade 2 dyspnea.

Association between time of day for rapid response team activation and mortality.

Purpose: To evaluate the frequency of rapid response team (RRT) calls by time of day and their association with in-hospital mortality.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of all RRT calls at a tertiary teaching hospital in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Patients were categorized according to the time of initial RRT activation.

Impact of impaired pulmonary function on clinical outcomes in survivors of severe COVID-19 without pre-existing respiratory disease.

Objective: To investigate the impact of impaired pulmonary function on patient-centered outcomes after hospital discharge due to severe COVID-19 in patients without preexisting respiratory disease.

Methods: This is an ongoing prospective cohort study evaluating patients (> 18 years of age) 2-6 months after hospital discharge due to severe COVID-19. Respiratory symptoms, health-related quality of life, lung function, and the six-minute walk test were assessed.

Continuous Monitoring of Pulse Oximetry During the 6-Minute Walk Test Improves Clinical Outcomes Prediction in COPD.

Background: Continuous monitoring of S throughout the 6-min walk test (6MWT) unveiled that some patients with respiratory diseases may present values across the test lower than S measured at the end of the test. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether this approach improves the yield of walk-induced desaturation detection in predicting mortality and hospitalizations in patients with COPD.

Methods: Four hundred twenty-one subjects (51% males) with mild-very severe COPD underwent a 6MWT with continuous measurement of S .

Pulmonology approach in the investigation of chronic unexplained dyspnea.

Chronic unexplained dyspnea and exercise intolerance represent common, distressing symptoms in outpatients. Clinical history taking and physical examination are the mainstays for diagnostic evaluation. However, the cause of dyspnea may remain elusive even after comprehensive diagnostic evaluation-basic laboratory analyses; chest imaging; pulmonary function testing; and cardiac testing.

The Quality of End-of-Life Care after Limitations of Medical Treatment as Defined by a Rapid Response Team: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Despite the increase in the identification of patients at the end of life after the introduction of rapid response team (RRT), there is doubt as to whether there has been an improvement in the quality of care offered to these patients. Proper end-of-life care is the next expected step after identifying patients who are dying.

Objective: To evaluate the end-of-life care after limitations of medical treatment (LOMTs) as defined by an RRT.

Inspiratory loading and limb blood flow in COPD: The modulating effects of resting lung hyperinflation.

Inspiratory resistive loading (IRL) may have deleterious cardiocirculatory effects leading to poor peripheral perfusion in severely-hyperinflated patients with COPD. Nineteen patients (13 severely-hyperinflated with inspiratory capacity/total lung capacity ratio≤0.28) underwent calf blood flow (CBF) measurements by venous occlusion plethysmography at rest and during IRL at 60% maximal inspiratory pressure.

The electronic cigarette: the new cigarette of the 21st century?

The electronic nicotine delivery system, also known as the electronic cigarette, is generating considerable controversy, not only in the general population but also among health professionals. Smokers the world over have been increasingly using electronic cigarettes as an aid to smoking cessation and as a substitute for conventional cigarettes. There are few available data regarding the safety of electronic cigarettes.