Clinical Characteristics and Risk of Exacerbations Associated With Different Diagnostic Criteria of Asthma-COPD Overlap.

Introduction: There is currently no universally accepted definition of asthma-COPD overlap (ACO).

Objective: To compare the prevalence of ACO in patients with asthma or COPD, and to assess their clinical characteristics and the capacity of the different definitions to predict the risk of exacerbation.

Method: Prospective observational study with a 12-month follow-up in an asthma cohort and a COPD cohort.

Comparison of Costs and Clinical Outcomes Between Hospital and Outpatient Administration of Omalizumab in Patients With Severe Uncontrolled Asthma.

Objectives: To compare clinical outcomes and costs between two administration strategies of omalizumab treatment.

Method: We evaluated two cohorts of patients with uncontrolled severe asthma over a 1-year period. Patients received the treatment in the primary care center in Hospital A and conventional hospital administration in Hospital B.

Does prolonged onset of symptoms have a prognostic significance in community-acquired pneumonia?

Background And Objective: Severity assessment is made at the time of the initial clinical presentation in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). It is unclear how the gap between time of presentation and duration of symptoms onset may impact clinical outcomes. Here we evaluate the association of prolonged onset of symptoms (POS) and the impact on clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients with CAP.

Management of tracheobronchial amyloidosis with therapeutic bronchoscopic techniques.

Amyloidosis is a systemic disease caused by abnormal deposition of amyloid material that is detected with Congo red staining and is difficult to diagnose. Involvement of the tracheobronchial tree is rare and is a challenge for pulmonologists because of the wide differential diagnosis of this disease. We present two cases where tracheobronchial affectation has been observed: in one of them as a primary disease, and in another as secondary affectation.