Impact of Treatable Traits on Asthma Control and Quality of Life.

Background: Many adult patients with asthma have uncontrolled disease and impaired quality of life, despite current asthma-specific drug therapies.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of 9 traits in patients with asthma, their associations with disease control and quality of life, and referral rates to nonmedical health care professionals.

Methods: Retrospectively, data from patients with asthma were collected in 2 Dutch hospitals (Amphia Breda and RadboudUMC Nijmegen).

Differences in Pulmonary and Extra-Pulmonary Traits between Women and Men with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Background: Evidence suggests sex-related differences in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Whether these differences are reflected in the prevalence of treatable traits remains unknown. Methods: Two samples of patients referred to secondary (n = 530) or tertiary care (n = 2012) were analyzed.

"Can Do, Do Do" Quadrants and 6-Year All-Cause Mortality in Patients With COPD.

Background: Physical capacity (PC; "can do") and physical activity (PA; "do do") are prognostic indicators in COPD and can be used to subdivide patients with COPD into four exclusive subgroups (the so-called "can do, do do" quadrants). This concept may be useful to understand better the impact of PC and PA on all-cause mortality in patients with COPD.

Research Question: What is the 6-year all-cause mortality risk of the "can do, do do" quadrants of patients with COPD?

Study Design And Methods: This retrospective study used data from patients with COPD who underwent a comprehensive assessment at their first-ever outpatient consultation.

Characteristics and treatable traits of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with and without paid employment.

Introduction: Patients with COPD are vulnerable to workforce detachment. Better knowledge of features associated with paid work loss might be of help to design and select appropriate interventions.

Method: This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the presence of treatable traits in COPD patients without paid work.

Long-Term Azithromycin Maintenance Treatment in Patients with Frequent Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Macrolides are effective in reducing the number of exacerbations in COPD patients with the frequent exacerbator phenotype. Our study did not show a persistent effect of azithromycin on exacerbation frequencies after more than one year of usage.

"Can Do" Versus "Do Do" in Patients with Asthma at First Referral to a Pulmonologist.

Background: Pharmacotherapy is key in asthma control, including preventing lung function decline, in primary care. However, patients' physical functioning (eg, physical capacity [PC] [=can do] and physical activity [PA] [=do do]) correlates poorly with lung function. Therefore, a better insight into the physical function of patients with asthma is needed, using the "can do, do do" concept.

Prevalence and abundance of selected genes conferring macrolide resistance genes in COPD patients during maintenance treatment with azithromycin.

Objectives: Maintenance treatment with macrolide antibiotics has shown to be effective in reducing exacerbations in COPD patients. A major concern with prolonged treatment with antibiotics is the development of bacterial resistance. In this study we determined the effect of azithromycin on the development and acquisition of resistance to macrolides in the nasopharyngeal flora in COPD patients.

Fatigue is highly prevalent in patients with COPD and correlates poorly with the degree of airflow limitation.

Background: The objective of this study was to compare fatigue levels between subjects with and without COPD, and to investigate the relationship between fatigue, demographics, clinical features and disease severity.

Methods: A total of 1290 patients with COPD [age 65 ± 9 years, 61% male, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) 56 ± 19% predicted] and 199 subjects without COPD (age 63 ± 9 years, 51% male, FEV1 112 ± 21% predicted) were assessed for fatigue (Checklist Individual Strength-Fatigue), demographics, clinical features and disease severity.

Results: Patients with COPD had a higher mean fatigue score, and a higher proportion of severe fatigue (CIS-Fatigue score 35 ± 12 21 ± 11 points,  < 0.

Blood eosinophil count and GOLD stage predict response to maintenance azithromycin treatment in COPD patients with frequent exacerbations.

Introduction: Maintenance treatment with macrolides are useful in preventing COPD exacerbations. We investigated which characteristics of COPD patients with frequent exacerbations predicted the best response to maintenance treatment with azithromycin.

Methods: This study was part of the COLUMBUS trial, a prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 92 COPD patients with frequent exacerbations.

"Can do" versus "do do": A Novel Concept to Better Understand Physical Functioning in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Background: Physical capacity (PC) and physical activity (PA) represent associated but separate domains of physical function. It remains unknown whether this framework may support a better understanding of the impaired physical function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The current study had two aims: (1) to determine the distribution of patients with COPD over the PC-PA quadrants, and (2) to explore whether differences exist in clinical characteristics between these quadrants.

Circulating desmosine as a biomarker of azithromycin treatment response: a analysis of the COLUMBUS randomised controlled trial.

http://ow.ly/vN6N30mhBA1.

Occurrence of virus-induced COPD exacerbations during four seasons.

In this study, we investigated the occurrence of viral infections in acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) during four seasons. Viral infections were detected by the use of real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction on pharyngeal swabs. During a 12-month period pharyngeal swabs were obtained in 136 exacerbations of 63 patients.

[Acute respiratory insufficiency due to COPD: invasive mechanical ventilation or not?].

The decision to move to a form of mechanical ventilation in patients with acute respiratory failure due to an acute exacerbation of COPD is influenced by expectations about survival and quality of life after discharge from the ICU. Physicians tend to be too pessimistic about the survival outcome of an ICU stay with invasive mechanical ventilation. The forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) is not an adequate prognostic parameter.

Azithromycin maintenance treatment in patients with frequent exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COLUMBUS): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Macrolide resistance is an increasing problem; there is therefore debate about when to implement maintenance treatment with macrolides in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We aimed to investigate whether patients with COPD who had received treatment for three or more exacerbations in the previous year would have a decrease in exacerbation rate when maintenance treatment with azithromycin was added to standard care.

Methods: We did a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-centre trial in The Netherlands between May 19, 2010, and June 18, 2013.

Influence of macrolide maintenance therapy and bacterial colonisation on exacerbation frequency and progression of COPD (COLUMBUS): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by progressive development of airflow limitation that is poorly reversible. Because of a poor understanding of COPD pathogenesis, treatment is mostly symptomatic and new therapeutic strategies are limited. There is a direct relationship between the severity of the disease and the intensity of the inflammatory response.

Endoscopic ultrasound fine needle aspiration in the diagnosis of lymphoma.

In recent years, endoscopic ultrasound techniques with Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) have become an increasingly used diagnostic aid in the differentiation of mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and endoesophageal ultrasound (EUS) are now available for clinicians to reach mediastinal and paramediastinal masses using a minimally invasive approach. These techniques are an established component for diagnosing and staging lung cancer and their benefit in the diagnosis of lymphoma's has been highlighted in a number of case studies.

Characterization of mediastinal lymph node physiology in vivo by optical spectroscopy during endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration.

Introduction: Esophageal endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is a minimally invasive staging procedure for mediastinal lymph nodes in patients diagnosed with lung cancer. But, a substantial false negative rate necessitates that patients returning a negative EUS-FNA result must undergo a subsequent surgical staging procedure. This study incorporates a fiberoptic reflectance spectroscopy device into the EUS-FNA procedure to asses the vascular physiology within the sampled lymph node.