Acute respiratory failure in randomized trials of noninvasive respiratory support: A systematic review of definitions, patient characteristics, and criteria for intubation.

Purpose: To examine the definitions of acute respiratory failure, the characteristics of recruited patients, and the criteria for intubation used in randomized trials.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE for randomized trials of noninvasive respiratory support modalities in patients with de novo respiratory failure. We included trials from 1995 to 2017 that enrolled 40 or more patients and used intubation as an outcome.

Use of Narrow Band Imaging in the Diagnosis of Hypovascular Endobronchial Sarcoidosis.

Narrow band imaging (NBI) has been widely applied for the evaluation of numerous disease conditions that present with increased vascularity of the mucosa, most often malignancies. It is increasingly being used in benign conditions as well. We present the first case in which NBI was used, rather, to detect areas of bronchial hypovascularity due to its ability to increase the visual contrast between normal and hypovascular mucosa.