Relationship between Emphysema Progression at CT and Mortality in Ever-Smokers: Results from the COPDGene and ECLIPSE Cohorts.

Background The relationship between emphysema progression and long-term outcomes is unclear. Purpose To determine the relationship between emphysema progression at CT and mortality among participants with emphysema. Materials and Methods In a secondary analysis of two prospective observational studies, COPDGene (, NCT00608764) and Evaluation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate End-points (ECLIPSE; , NCT00292552), emphysema was measured at CT at two points by using the volume-adjusted lung density at the 15th percentile of the lung density histogram (hereafter, lung density perc15) method.

Unreported and Overlooked: A Post Hoc Analysis of COPD Symptom-Related Attacks from the RISE Study.

Purpose: Moderate and severe COPD exacerbations are a significant health-care burden, but patients also experience "mild" exacerbations, or COPD symptom-related attacks, which often go unreported. We aimed to define and then determine the incidence of COPD symptom-related attacks and their impact on future risk of moderate/severe exacerbations, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and lung function. The effect of COPD maintenance therapy on the attack definition was then evaluated by comparing budesonide/formoterol with formoterol alone.

Effect of tralokinumab, an interleukin-13 neutralising monoclonal antibody, on eosinophilic airway inflammation in uncontrolled moderate-to-severe asthma (MESOS): a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial.

Background: The role of interleukin 13 in airway inflammation and remodelling in asthma is unclear. Tralokinumab is a human monoclonal antibody that neutralises interleukin 13. We aimed to evaluate whether tralokinumab would have an effect on airway eosinophilic infiltration, blood and sputum eosinophil concentrations, eosinophil activation, and airway remodelling.

Repeatability and response to therapy of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis in a large multicentre trial setting.

Objectives: To determine the repeatability and response to therapy of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI biomarkers of synovitis in the hand and wrist of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, and in particular the performance of the transfer constant K , in a multicentre trial setting.

Methods: DCE-MRI and RA MRI scoring (RAMRIS) were performed with meticulous standardisation at baseline and 6 and 24 weeks in a substudy of fostamatinib monotherapy in reducing synovitis compared with placebo or adalimumab. Analysis employed statistical shape modelling to avoid biased regions-of-interest, kinetic modelling and heuristic analyses.

COPD Patients Have Short Lung Magnetic Resonance T1 Relaxation Time.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may provide attractive biomarkers for assessment of pulmonary disease in clinical trials as it is free from ionizing radiation, minimally invasive and allows regional information. The aim of this study was to characterize lung MRI T1 relaxation time as a biomarker of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); and specifically its relationship to smoking history, computed tomography (CT), and pulmonary function test (PFT) measurements in comparison to healthy age-matched controls. Lung T1 and inter-quartile range (IQR) of T1 maps from 24 COPD subjects and 12 healthy age-matched non-smokers were retrospectively analyzed from an institutional review board approved study.

Feasibility of Computed Tomography in a Multicenter COPD Trial: A Study of the Effect of AZD9668 on Structural Airway Changes.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to establish the feasibility of using computed tomography (CT) in a multicenter setting to assess structural airway changes.

Methods: This was a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase IIb trial using CT to investigate the effect of a novel, oral, reversible neutrophil elastase inhibitor, AZD9668 60 mg twice daily (BID), on structural airway changes in patients aged 50-80 years with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (ex-smokers).

Primary Outcome Variable: airway wall thickness at an extrapolated interior perimeter of 10 mm (AWT-Pi10).

MR Quantitative Equilibrium Signal Mapping: A Reliable Alternative to CT in the Assessment of Emphysema in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Purpose: To compare magnetic resonance (MR) quantitative equilibrium signal (qS0) mapping with quantitative computed tomography (CT) in the estimation of emphysema in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Materials And Methods: Written informed consent of the original study permitted future reanalysis of data. This study was a retrospective analysis of data from an institutional review board-approved study.

Feasibility assessment of using oxygen-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for evaluating the effect of pharmacological treatment in COPD.

Objectives: Oxygen-enhanced MRI (OE-MRI) biomarkers have potential value in assessment of COPD, but need further evaluation before treatment-induced changes can be interpreted. The objective was to evaluate how OE-MRI parameters of regional ventilation and oxygen uptake respond to standard pharmacological interventions in COPD, and how the response compares to that of gold standard pulmonary function tests.

Materials And Methods: COPD patients (n=40), mean FEV1 58% predicted normal, received single-dose inhaled formoterol 9μg, or placebo, followed by 8 weeks treatment bid with a combination of budesonide and formoterol Turbuhaler(®) 320/9μg or formoterol Turbuhaler(®).

Optimal surface segmentation using flow lines to quantify airway abnormalities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

This paper introduces a graph construction method for multi-dimensional and multi-surface segmentation problems. Such problems can be solved by searching for the optimal separating surfaces given the space of graph columns defined by an initial coarse surface. Conventional straight graph columns are not well suited for surfaces with high curvature, we therefore propose to derive columns from properly generated, non-intersecting flow lines.