Lung transplant in chronic HIV infection.

Lung transplantation is the treatment of choice for many end-stage chronic lung conditions. Chronic Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is considered a relative contraindication for lung transplantation. In the era of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), there has been an increase in the number of HIV-positive patients living with chronic lung conditions.

Functional imaging for assessing regional lung ventilation in preclinical and clinical research.

Dynamic heterogeneity in lung ventilation is an important measure of pulmonary function and may be characteristic of early pulmonary disease. While standard indices like spirometry, body plethysmography, and blood gases have been utilized to assess lung function, they do not provide adequate information on regional ventilatory distribution nor function assessments of ventilation during the respiratory cycle. Emerging technologies such as xenon CT, volumetric CT, functional MRI and X-ray velocimetry can assess regional ventilation using non-invasive radiographic methods that may complement current methods of assessing lung function.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Stroke: Determining the Mechanisms Behind their Association and Treatment Options.

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) can be a sequela of stroke caused by vascular injury to vital respiratory centers, cerebral edema, and increased intracranial pressure of space-occupying lesions. Likewise, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) contributes to increased stroke risk through local mechanisms such as impaired ischemic cerebrovascular response and systemic effects such as promoting atherosclerosis, hypercoagulability, cardiac arrhythmias, vascular-endothelial dysfunction, and metabolic syndrome. The impact of OSA on stroke outcomes has been established, yet it receives less attention in national guidelines on stroke management than hyperglycemia and blood pressure dysregulation.