GOLD Stage and Treatment in COPD: A 500 Patient Point Prevalence Study.

The Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines recommend using a combination of spirometry, symptoms and exacerbation history to classify patients into 4 categories (A, B, C, D) to guide treatment decisions along with a stepwise increase in therapy. Our objectives were to identify the GOLD stage of patients in respiratory outpatient clinics and assess how treatment compares to guideline recommendations. This was a point prevalence study using a convenience sample of 500 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from a single tertiary care outpatient respiratory clinic.

Correlation of late gadolinium enhancement MRI and quantitative T2 measurement in cardiac sarcoidosis.

Purpose: To investigate the potentially improved detection and quantification of cardiac involvement using novel late-gadolinium-enhancement (LGE) cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and quantitative T2 measurement to achieve better myocardial tissue characterization in systemic sarcoidosis.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-eight patients with systemic sarcoidosis underwent a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) study on a 1.5T system.

The effects of interleukin-8 on airway smooth muscle contraction in cystic fibrosis.

Background: Many cystic fibrosis (CF) patients display airway hyperresponsiveness and have symptoms of asthma such as cough, wheezing and reversible airway obstruction. Chronic airway bacterial colonization, associated with neutrophilic inflammation and high levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) is also a common occurrence in these patients. The aim of this work was to determine the responsiveness of airway smooth muscle to IL-8 in CF patients compared to non-CF individuals.