The use of oximetry and a questionnaire in primary care enables exclusion of a subsequent obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis.

Purpose: The study aims to prospectively validate the prognostic value of oximetry alone or combined in a two-step strategy with a questionnaire for the exclusion of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in primary care.

Methods: A total of 140 subjects with suspected OSA were included from 54 participating primary care practices. All subjects completed the Philips questionnaire and underwent one night of oximetry prior to referral to a sleep center.

Retrospective validation of a new volumetric capnography parameter for the exclusion of pulmonary embolism at the emergency department.

Volumetric capnography might be used to exclude pulmonary embolism (PE) without the need for computed tomography pulmonary angiography. In a pilot study, a new parameter (CapNoPE) combining the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled per breath (carbon dioxide production ( )), the slope of phase 3 of the volumetric capnogram (slope 3) and respiratory rate (RR) showed promising diagnostic accuracy (where CapNoPE=( ×slope 3)/RR). To retrospectively validate CapNoPE for the exclusion of PE, the volumetric capnograms of 205 subjects (68 with PE) were analysed, based on a large multicentre dataset of volumetric capnograms from subjects with suspected PE at the emergency department.

Validation of the oxygen desaturation index in the diagnostic workup of obstructive sleep apnea.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common, and diagnosis requires expensive and laborious testing to assess the apnea hypopnea index (AHI). We performed an analysis to explore the relationship between the oxygen desaturation index (ODI) as measured with pulse oximetry and the AHI in our large portable monitoring (PM) database to find an optimal cutoff value for the ODI in order to be able to exclude AHI ≥ 5 on PM.

Methods: Three thousand four hundred thirteen PM recordings were randomly divided into a training set (N = 2281) and a test set (N = 1132).

Reproducibility of hypercapnic ventilatory response measurements with steady-state and rebreathing methods.

In this study, the hypercapnic ventilatory response (HCVR) was measured, defined as the ventilation response to carbon dioxide tension ( ). We investigated which method, rebreathing or steady-state, is most suitable for measurement of the HCVR in healthy subjects, primarily based on reproducibility. Secondary outcome parameters were subject experience and duration.

Volumetric capnography in the exclusion of pulmonary embolism at the emergency department: a pilot study.

The analysis of the [Formula: see text] in expired air as a function of the exhaled volume (volumetric capnography) might result in a more specific exclusion tool for pulmonary embolism (PE) in addition to the Wells-score and D-dimer. A novel combination of volumetric capnography parameters ([Formula: see text]) should be decreased in PE and could possibly be used to decrease the number of requested computed tomography pulmonary angiograms (CTPA). Volumetric capnography measurements were performed on consecutive patients seen in the emergency department for which, due to suspected PE (due to increased D-dimer level or Wells-score), a CTPA was ordered.

The T /T ratio cannot be used to exclude pulmonary embolism.

Background: The existing screening modalities for pulmonary embolism (PE), such as D-dimer and clinical prediction rules, have low positive predictive values. With its capability to indicate pulmonary vascular abnormalities, the ratio of the transfer factor of the lungs for nitric oxide and the transfer factor of the lungs for carbon monoxide (T /T ) might be an additional discriminating parameter.

Methods: Carbon monoxide/Nitric oxide diffusion measurements were performed on unselected patients seen on the emergency department for which due to suspected PE a computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) was ordered.