Telerehabilitation Programme as a Maintenance Strategy for COPD Patients: A 12-Month Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: There is uncertainty regarding efficacy of telehealth-based approaches in COPD patients for sustaining benefits achieved with intensive pulmonary rehabilitation (PR).

Research Question: To determine whether a maintenance pulmonary telerehabilitation (TelePR) programme, after intensive initial PR, is superior to usual care in sustaining over time benefits achieved by intensive PR.

Study Design And Methods: A multicentre open-label pragmatic parallel-group randomized clinical trial was conducted.

Heart failure induced by itraconazole.

Introduction And Objective: Itraconazole is an antifungal imidazole used for the treatment of aspergillosis. Evidence supporting the association between itraconazole and the onset of congestive heart failure (CHF) is limited and is based on cases reported after drug market release.

Case Report: We report the case of a 76-year-old man with hypertension and COPD GOLD D who experienced heart failure after receiving a new line of treatment with itraconazole.

Ambulatory adaptation to noninvasive ventilation in restrictive pulmonary disease: a randomized trial with cost assessment.

Background: Home mechanical ventilation is usually initiated in hospital. However, cost-effectiveness of inpatient set up has never been compared to outpatient adaptation in a randomized design. A Prospective, multicenter, non-inferiority trial was conducted comparing the effectiveness of adaptation to noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV) performed in the ambulatory or hospital setting in patients with chronic respiratory failure secondary to restrictive thoracic disease, obesity-hypoventilation syndrome or neuromuscular disease.

Sildenafil to improve respiratory rehabilitation outcomes in COPD: a controlled trial.

Pulmonary hypertension is a serious complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that currently has no established pharmacological treatment. This study aimed to assess whether concomitant treatment with sildenafil would enhance the results of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD and increased pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP). In this double-blind, randomised controlled trial patients received 20 mg sildenafil or placebo three times daily and underwent pulmonary rehabilitation for 3 months.