Virtual reality intervention alleviates dyspnoea in patients recovering from COVID-19 pneumonia.

Background: Immersive virtual reality (iVR)-based digital therapeutics are gaining clinical attention in the field of pain management. Based on known analogies between pain and dyspnoea, we investigated the effects of visual respiratory feedback on persistent dyspnoea in patients recovering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia.

Methods: We performed a controlled, randomised, single-blind, crossover proof-of-concept study (feasibility and initial clinical efficacy) to evaluate an iVR-based intervention to alleviate dyspnoea in patients recovering from COVID-19 pneumonia.

SARS-CoV-2 m-RNA Vaccine Response in Immunocompromised Patients: A Monocentric Study Comparing Cancer, People Living with HIV, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients and Lung Transplant Recipients.

Immunocompromised patients (ICPs) have a higher risk of developing severe forms of COVID-19 and experience a higher burden of complications and mortality than the general population. However, recent studies have suggested that the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines could be highly variable among different ICPs. Using a collaborative, monocentric, prospective cohort study, we assessed anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibody titers following two and three doses of mRNA vaccines in four groups of ICPs (cancer [ = 232]: hematopoietic stem cell transplant [HSCT; = 126] patients; people living with HIV [PLWH; = 131]; and lung transplant [LT; = 39] recipients) treated at Geneva University Hospitals; and healthy individuals ( = 49).

The pandemic toll and post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers at a Swiss University Hospital.

Healthcare workers have potentially been among the most exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as the deleterious toll of the pandemic. This study has the objective to differentiate the pandemic toll from post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers compared to the general population. The study was conducted between April and July 2021 at the Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland.

One-year persistent symptoms and functional impairment in SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative individuals.

Background: Persistent symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 are prevalent weeks to months following the infection. To date, it is difficult to disentangle the direct from the indirect effects of SARS-CoV-2, including lockdown, social, and economic factors.

Objective: The study aims to characterize the prevalence of symptoms, functional capacity, and quality of life at 12 months in outpatient symptomatic individuals tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared to individuals tested negative.

Frailty assessment for COVID-19 follow-up: a prospective cohort study.

Background: The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is increasingly used for clinical decision making in acute care but little is known about frailty after COVID-19.

Objectives: To investigate frailty and the CFS for post-COVID-19 follow-up.

Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included COVID-19 survivors aged ≥50 years presenting for a follow-up visit ≥3 months after the acute illness.

Implementing Lung Ultrasound in the Outpatient Management of COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Pilot Study to Update Local Guidelines.

Lung ultrasound (LUS) has a good performance with a high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of pneumonia compared with chest X-ray, and it has been extensively used to assess patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to evaluate the potential advantages of the regular use of LUS for the assessment of the severity and prognosis of COVID-19 pneumonia and to propose an adapted protocol with its inclusion in current local validated and published guidelines. This is a single-center prospective study conducted during the first (April-May 2020) and second (October 2020-January 2021) waves of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic in Switzerland.

[Diagnostic approach to pulmonary complications in patients with hematologic malignancy].

Hematologic malignancies are heterogeneous group of neoplasia, with frequent pulmonary complications. These complications may be secondary to the patient's comorbidities, to the hemopathy itself or its treatments. Divided into infectious and non-infectious complications, the etiologies are numerous and varied.

[Pulmonary telerehabilitation : a new standard ?].

Pulmonary rehabilitation is effective to improve shortness of breath, health status and exercise capacity. Telerehabilitation uses information and communication technologies to deliver rehabilitation program from a distance. A Cochrane review published in 2021 shows its equivalence to conventional pulmonary rehabilitation.

Symptomatic response to CPAP in obstructive sleep apnea versus COPD- obstructive sleep apnea overlap syndrome: Insights from a large national registry.

Background: The symptomatic response to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in COPD-obstructive sleep apnea overlap syndrome (OVS) compared to OSA syndrome (OSA) alone has not been well studied so far. The aim of this study is to explore main differences in the clinical response to CPAP treatment in OVS compared to OSA alone.

Study Design And Methods: Using prospective data from the French National Sleep Apnea Registry, we conducted an observational study among 6320 patients with moderate-to-severe OSA, available spirometry, and at least one follow-up visit under CPAP therapy.

Swiss Recommendations for the Follow-Up and Treatment of Pulmonary Long COVID.

Introduction: Emerging evidence suggests that long-term pulmonary symptoms and functional impairment occurs in a proportion of individuals following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although the proportion of affected patients remains to be determined, physicians are increasingly being confronted with patients reporting respiratory symptoms and impairment beyond the acute phase of COVID-19. In face of limited evidence, the Swiss Society for Pulmonology established a working group to address this area of unmet need and formulated diagnostic and treatment recommendations for the care of patients with pulmonary long COVID (LC).

Causal Effects of Body Mass Index on Airflow Obstruction and Forced Mid-Expiratory Flow: A Mendelian Randomization Study Taking Interactions and Age-Specific Instruments Into Consideration Toward a Life Course Perspective.

Obesity has complex links to respiratory health. Mendelian randomization (MR) enables assessment of causality of body mass index (BMI) effects on airflow obstruction and mid-expiratory flow. In the adult SAPALDIA cohort, recruiting 9,651 population-representative samples aged 18-60 years at baseline (female 51%), BMI and the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV) to forced vital capacity (FVC) as well as forced mid-expiratory flow (FEF25-75%) were measured three times over 20 follow-up years.

Self-proning in COVID-19 patients on low-flow oxygen therapy: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Rationale And Objectives: Prone positioning as a complement to oxygen therapy to treat hypoxaemia in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia in spontaneously breathing patients has been widely adopted, despite a lack of evidence for its benefit. We tested the hypothesis that a simple incentive to self-prone for a maximum of 12 h per day would decrease oxygen needs in patients admitted to the ward for COVID-19 pneumonia on low-flow oxygen therapy.

Methods: 27 patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to Geneva University Hospitals were included in the study.

[Lung cancer screening in Switzerland : Who ? How ? When ?].

Professional societies encourage the establishment of coordinated national screening programs for lung cancer by « low-dose » chest CT scans. The interdisciplinary Swiss Lung Cancer Screening Implementation Group (CH-LSIG) is exploring the feasibility of such a project. However, several questions still remain unanswered, namely the -financing of such a program, the ideal « number-needed to screen », the definition and follow-up of « positive cases », as well as the role of smoking cessation measures.

Unexpected Acceleration in Treprostinil Delivery Administered by a Lenus Pro® Implantable Pump in Two Patients Treated for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Intravenous treprostinil administration by an implantable pump is an attractive option for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) treatment and is the subject of recent publications. Short-term studies are promising, but there is still a lack of long-term prospective data. We analyzed the treprostinil flow rate administered by the Lenus Pro® implantable pump in 2 patients suffering from PAH during follow-up times of respectively 4.

Burden, epidemiology, and outcomes of microbiologically confirmed respiratory viral infections in solid organ transplant recipients: a nationwide, multi-season prospective cohort study.

Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are exposed to respiratory viral infection (RVI) during seasonal epidemics; however, the associated burden of disease has not been fully characterized. We describe the epidemiology and outcomes of RVI in a cohort enrolling 3294 consecutive patients undergoing SOT from May 2008 to December 2015 in Switzerland. Patient and allograft outcomes, and RVI diagnosed during routine clinical practice were prospectively collected.

Clinical presentation and comorbidities of obstructive sleep apnea-COPD overlap syndrome.

Background: More advanced knowledge is needed on how COPD alters the clinical presentation of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and how the association of both diseases, known as 'overlap syndrome' (OVS), impacts on cardiovascular health.

Objective: To investigate differences between patients with OVS and those with moderate-to-severe OSA alone.

Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in the French National Sleep Apnea Registry between January 1997 and January 2017.

Secondary pulmonary alveolar proteinosis treated by lung transplant: A case report.

Background: Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a pulmonary disease characterized by disruption of surfactant homeostasis resulting in its accumulation in the alveoli. PAP is classically classified into three categories (Table 1): 1/primary (or autoimmune) with antibodies targeting the GM-CSF pathway, 2/secondary to another disease, typically a hematologic malignancy, and 3/genetic.

Case-report: A 30 year-old woman received an allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) after treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Long-Term Noninvasive Ventilation in the Geneva Lake Area: Indications, Prevalence, and Modalities.

Background: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is standard of care for chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure, but indications, devices, and ventilatory modes are in constant evolution.

Research Question: To describe changes in prevalence and indications for NIV over a 15-year period; to provide a comprehensive report of characteristics of the population treated (age, comorbidities, and anthropometric data), mode of implementation and follow-up, devices, modes and settings used, physiological data, compliance, and data from ventilator software.

Study Design And Methods: Cross-sectional observational study designed to include all subjects under NIV followed by all structures involved in NIV in the Cantons of Geneva and Vaud (1,288,378 inhabitants).

Perceptions towards physical activity in adult lung transplant recipients with cystic fibrosis.

Background: Barriers and motives towards physical activity (PA) in lung transplant (LTx) recipients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are largely unknown. We aimed to explore perceptions towards PA in LTx recipients with CF to better understand individuals' needs and preferences.

Methods: Participants completed an online survey at two Swiss LTx and one follow-up shared care centre between June and December 2018.

Clinical experience with lung-specific electromagnetic transponders for real-time tumor tracking in lung stereotactic body radiotherapy.

Background And Purposes: Motion management is crucial for optimal stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) of moving targets. We aimed to describe our clinical experience with real-time tracking of lung-specific electromagnetic transponders (EMTs) for SBRT of early stage non-small cell lung cancer in free-breathing (FB) or deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH).

Material And Methods: Seven patients were implanted with EMTs.

[COPD and phenotypes].

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous group of chronic respiratory diseases which phenotyping is less codified as for asthma yet as essential. The phenotype helps to better understand the evolution of the disease, punctuated by exacerbations and favors a better targeting for treatments and clinical work-up. The latest studies, mostly based on the ECLIPSE and SPIROMICS cohorts, highlight the importance of the search for eosinophilia and the complete assessment of cardiovascular comorbidities.