Sexual function, health functionality, and quality of life in females with pulmonary arterial hypertension: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) can have several consequences on sexual function, which can lead to worsened quality of life.

Aim: The study sought to assess sexual function and its association with health functionality and quality of life in females with PAH.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in pulmonary circulation outpatient clinics from January 2022 to March 2023 in females diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension.

Patient Blood Management Program Implementation: Comprehensive Recommendations and Practical Strategies.

Introduction: Blood transfusion is one of the most common medical practices worldwide. However, current scientific literature has shown that the immunomodulatory effects of blood transfusion are associated with an increased likelihood of infection, prolonged hospitalization, and morbimortality. Also, it means high costs for healthcare systems.

Patterns of Circulating Cytokines and Vascular Markers' Response in the Presence of COVID-19 in Kidney Transplant Recipients Compared with Non-Transplanted Patients.

COVID-19's severity has been associated with a possible imbalance in the cross-regulation of cytokines and vascular mediators. Since the beginning of the pandemic, kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) have been identified as patients of high vulnerability to more severe diseases. Thus, aiming to describe the patterns of cytokines and vascular mediators and to trace patients' differences according to their KTR status, this prospective study enrolled 67 COVID-19 patients (20 KTRs) and 29 non-COVID-19 controls before vaccination.

Predictors of prolonged ventilator weaning and mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19.

Objective: To identify factors associated with prolonged weaning and mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to ICUs and under invasive mechanical ventilation.

Methods: Between March of 2020 and July of 2021, we retrospectively recorded clinical and ventilatory characteristics of critically ill COVID-19 patients from the day of intubation to the outcome. We classified the patients regarding the weaning period in accordance with established criteria.

Neurological symptoms and comorbidity profile of hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Background: The neurological manifestations in COVID-19 adversely impact acute illness and post-disease quality of life. Limited data exist regarding the association of neurological symptoms and comorbid individuals.

Objective: To assess neurological symptoms in hospitalized patients with acute COVID-19 and multicomorbidities.

A Machine Learning Model for Predicting Hospitalization in Patients with Respiratory Symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

A machine learning approach is a useful tool for risk-stratifying patients with respiratory symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is still evolving. We aimed to verify the predictive capacity of a gradient boosting decision trees (XGboost) algorithm to select the most important predictors including clinical and demographic parameters in patients who sought medical support due to respiratory signs and symptoms (RAPID RISK COVID-19). A total of 7336 patients were enrolled in the study, including 6596 patients that did not require hospitalization and 740 that required hospitalization.

Value of Contrast Transesophageal Echocardiography in the Detection of Intrapulmonary Vascular Dilatations in Hepatosplenic Schistosomiasis.

Background: Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), found in cirrhotic patients, has been little studied in hepatosplenic schistosomiasis (HSS) and includes the occurrence of intrapulmonary vascular dilatations (IPVD). Contrast transesophageal echocardiography (cTEE) with microbubbles is more sensitive than contrast transthoracic echocardiography (cTTE) with microbubbles in the detection of IPVD in cirrhosis.

Objective: To assess the performance of the cTEE, compared with that of cTTE, in detecting IPVD for the diagnosis of HPS in patients with HSS.

Highlights of the Brazilian Thoracic Association guidelines for interstitial lung diseases.

Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are heterogeneous disorders, involving a large number of conditions, the approach to which continues to pose an enormous challenge for pulmonologists. The 2012 Brazilian Thoracic Association ILD Guidelines were established in order to provide Brazilian pulmonologists with an instrument that can facilitate the management of patients with ILDs, standardizing the criteria used for the diagnosis of different conditions and offering guidance on the best treatment in various situations. The objective of this article was to briefly describe the highlights of those guidelines.

Heart rate recovery in pulmonary arterial hypertension: relationship with exercise capacity and prognosis.

Background: Delayed postexercise heart rate recovery (HRR) has been associated with disability and poor prognosis in chronic cardiopulmonary diseases. The usefulness of HRR to predict exercise impairment and mortality in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), however, remains largely unexplored.

Methods: Seventy-two patients with PAH of varied etiology (New York Heart Association classes I-IV) and 21 age- and gender-matched controls underwent a maximal incremental cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), with heart rate being recorded up to the fifth minute of recovery.

Kinetics of skeletal muscle O2 delivery and utilization at the onset of heavy-intensity exercise in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Impaired O(2) delivery relative to O(2) demands at the onset of exercise might influence the response profile of muscle fractional O(2) extraction (≅Δ[deoxy-Hb/Mb] by near-infrared spectroscopy) either by accelerating its rate of increase or creating an "overshoot" (OS) in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We therefore assessed the kinetics of O(2) uptake [Formula: see text] Δ[deoxy-Hb/Mb] in the vastus lateralis, and heart rate (HR) at the onset of heavy-intensity exercise in 14 females with PAH (connective tissue disease, IPAH, portal hypertension, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) and 11 age- and gender-matched controls. Patients had slower [Formula: see text] and HR dynamics than controls (τ[Formula: see text] = 62.

Diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia accompanied by airflow obstruction.

Diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia with airflow obstruction is a rare form of lung injury. All of the reported cases have been diagnosed by surgical lung biopsy. Only three of the reported cases presented with diffuse interstitial lung opacities on HRCT scans.

Subacute and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis: histopathological patterns and survival.

Background: In hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), survival can be predicted on the basis of the severity of fibrosis in surgical lung biopsy, but few data are available on the influence of clinical, functional, tomographic and histologic findings on prognosis.

Objectives: To describe the impact on survival of clinical data, histological patterns, and HRCT findings in subacute/chronic HP.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 103 patients diagnosed with HP submitted to surgical lung biopsy.

[Clinical characteristics of pulmonary hypertension patients in two reference centers in the city of Sao Paulo].

Objectives: Describe the clinical profile of PH patients from two pulmonary hypertension centers.

Methods: Retrospective chart analysis.

Results: One hundred and twenty three PH patients were included in the study; 62% of these presented functional class III or IV (NYHA).