A comprehensive evaluation of online inhaler use techniques for obstructive airway disease.

Background: Pulmonary inhaler therapy is a core treatment modality for >600 million individuals affected by obstructive airways disease globally. Poor inhaler technique is associated with reduced disease control and increased health care utilization; however, many patients rely on the internet as a technical resource. This study assesses the content and quality of online resources describing inhaler techniques.

Myositis Antibodies and Interstitial Lung Disease.

Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) comprises a heterogeneous group of inflammatory and fibrotic conditions, often resulting in progressive lung function decline and increased mortality. Connective tissue disease (CTD) should be considered in all patients with ILD, as distinguishing between CTD-ILD and other forms of fibrotic lung disease has important therapeutic and prognostic implications. The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) represent a CTD subtype of growing interest to ILD experts.

Ophthalmologic assessments in patients with newly diagnosed sarcoidosis: An observational study from a universal healthcare system.

Introduction: Consensus guidelines for the management of sarcoidosis recommend screening eye examinations for all patients, even in those without ocular symptoms. We aimed to determine the proportion of sarcoidosis patients that complete ophthalmologic evaluations and factors associated with their performance.

Methods: We identified patients with sarcoidosis using population health services data from Ontario, Canada between 1991 and 2019.

Utility of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody screening in idiopathic interstitial lung disease.

Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is an established manifestation of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. Autoimmune serologic screening is recommended by international consensus guidelines during the evaluation of idiopathic ILD, but ANCA testing only on a case-by-case basis.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the role of ANCA screening in patients with idiopathic ILD.

Hospitalizations in Sarcoidosis: A Cohort Study of a Universal Healthcare Population.

Population-based analyses of hospitalization rates from countries with universal healthcare systems are lacking for patients with sarcoidosis. To evaluate the long-term trends in hospitalization rates and risk factors for hospitalization in patients with sarcoidosis in Ontario, Canada. We performed a cohort study using health administrative data from Ontario, Canada, between 1996 and 2015.

Epidemiology and health outcomes of sarcoidosis in a universal healthcare population: a cohort study.

Sarcoidosis-related mortality appears to be rising in North America, with increasing rates in females and the elderly. We aimed to estimate trends in sarcoidosis incidence, prevalence and mortality in Ontario, Canada.We performed a cohort study using health administrative data from Ontario between 1996 and 2015.

Abnormal connexin43 in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy caused by plakophilin-2 mutations.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a disorder of cardiomyocyte intercalated disk proteins causing sudden death. Heterozygous mutations of the desmosomal protein plakophilin-2 (PKP-2) are the commonest genetic cause of ARVC. Abnormal gap junction connexin43 expression has been reported in autosomal dominant forms of ARVC (Naxos and Carvajal disease) caused by homozygous mutations of desmosomal plakoglobin and desmoplakin.