Novel functional imaging of changes in small airways of patients treated with extrafine beclomethasone/formoterol.

Background: Inhaled formulations using extrafine particles of long-acting β2-agonists and corticosteroids were developed to optimize asthma treatment. Findings that these combinations reach and treat smaller airways more effectively are predominantly based on general non-specific outcomes with little information on regional characteristics.

Objectives: This study aims to assess long-term effects of extrafine beclomethasone/formoterol on small airways of asthmatic patients using novel functional imaging methods.

Acute effects of intrapulmonary percussive ventilation in COPD patients assessed by using conventional outcome parameters and a novel computational fluid dynamics technique.

Objective: Chest physiotherapy enhances sputum evacuation in COPD patients. It can be applied as a single technique or as a combination of techniques including intrapulmonary percussive ventilation (IPV). Recently developed assessment techniques may provide new insights into the effect of airway clearance techniques.

A case series on lung deposition analysis of inhaled medication using functional imaging based computational fluid dynamics in asthmatic patients: effect of upper airway morphology and comparison with in vivo data.

Context: Asthma affects 20 million Americans resulting in an economic burden of approximately $18 billion in the US alone (Allergies and Asthma Foundation 2000; National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) 1999). Research studies based on differences in patient-specific airway morphology for asthma and the associated effect on deposition of inhaled aerosols are currently not available in the literature. Therefore, the role of morphological variations such as upper airway (extrathoracic) occlusion is not well documented.

The acute effect of budesonide/formoterol in COPD: a multi-slice computed tomography and lung function study.

The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) classification of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) does not always match with other clinical disease descriptors such as exacerbation frequency and quality of life, indicating that forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) is not a perfect descriptor of the disease. The aim of this study was to find out whether changes in airway geometry after inhalation of the most commonly used inhalation therapy in severe COPD can more adequately be described with an image-based approach than with spirometry. 10 COPD GOLD stage III patients were assessed in a double-blind crossover study.

Airway clearance in COPD: need for a breath of fresh air? A systematic review.

Background: Airway clearance is a key component of respiratory physiotherapy management for patients with excess secretions, including patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this review is to give an overview of the available evidence for the use of different airway clearance techniques (ACT) and their effects in patients with COPD.

Methods: A systematic literature search was performed on CEBAM, PUBMED, Cochrane CT, Science Direct and Biomed central data bases.

Antioxidant defence during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.

Objective: Cardiac surgery may lead to severe oxidative stress due to formation of oxidation products generated during ischemia and reperfusion. We investigated to which extent oxidative stress influences a number of endogenous antioxidants and markers of cellular activation.

Methods: At six time points blood was withdrawn from patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, using the on-pump procedure.