High-Flow Nasal Cannula Therapy as an Adjuvant Therapy for Respiratory Support during Endoscopic Techniques: A Narrative Review.

High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is a respiratory support technique that delivers a controlled concentration of oxygen with high flow, heat, and humidity via the nasal pathway. As it has many physiological effects, its use has increased for a variety of clinical indications; however, there is limited guidance on using HFNC as a respiratory support tool during endoscopic procedures. We conducted a narrative review to evaluate the effect of HFNC as an adjuvant tool during fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB), upper gastrointestinal tract endoscopy, and surgical procedures in adults.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Pleural Effusion. Recommendations of the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery. Update 2022.

Pleural effusion (PE) is a common yet complex disease that requires specialized, multidisciplinary management. Recent advances, novel diagnostic techniques, and innovative patient-centered therapeutic proposals have prompted an update of the current guidelines. This document provides recommendations and protocols based on a critical review of the literature on the epidemiology, etiology, diagnosis, prognosis, and new therapeutic options in PE, and addresses some cost-effectiveness issues related to the main types of PE.

Long-Term Effect of Noninvasive Ventilation on Diaphragm in Chronic Respiratory Failure.

Purpose: Home non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is recommended in patients with COPD and hypercapnic chronic respiratory failure (HCRF). The mechanism by it can improve alveolar ventilation during spontaneous breathing is not yet completely explained. Our aim is to evaluate the impact of on diaphragm muscle function in a series of patients with HCRF.

Deoxynucleoside therapy for respiratory involvement in adult patients with thymidine kinase 2-deficient myopathy.

Background: Recessive mutations in the thymidine kinase 2 ( gene cause a rare mitochondrial myopathy, frequently with severe respiratory involvement. Deoxynucleoside therapy is currently under investigation.

Research Question: What is the impact of nucleosides in respiratory function in patients with TK2-deficient myopathy?

Study Design And Methods: Retrospective observational study of patients treated with deoxycytidine and deoxythymidine.

Teaching the basics of echocardiography in the undergraduate: Students as mentors.

Objective: To analyse the ability of medical students to incorporate the practical teaching of basic echocardiography planes using a peer mentoring design.

Methodology: Thirty-six medical students previously trained in obtaining echocardiography planes (mentors) taught the other 5th-year students (n=126). The teaching methodology included three stages: theory (online course), basic training (three 15h sessions of practical experience in ultrasound and at least 20 echocardiographic studies per mentor) and objective structured clinical assessment (OSCA), which scored the appropriateness of the basic ultrasound planes and the correct identification of 16 cardiac structures.

Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Management of Asbestos-Related Pleural and Pulmonary Disease.

Asbestos is the term used for a set of mineral silicates that tend to break up into fibers. Its use has been associated with numerous diseases affecting the lung and pleura in particular, all of which are characterized by their long period of latency. Asbestos, moreover, has been recognized by the WHO as a Group IA carcinogen since 1987 and its use was banned in Spain in 2002.

Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in patients with severe chronic respiratory insufficiency.

Introduction And Objective: Although sleep disordered breathing is common in patients with a severe chronic respiratory insufficiency (SCRI), there is few information on its prevalence. Our aim was to describe the prevalence and characteristics of the obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) in these patients.

Material And Methods: Prospective and observational study carried out on patients with a SCRI included in a waiting list for a lung transplantation and who had undergone a standard polysomnography.

Recommendations of diagnosis and treatment of pleural effusion. Update.

Although during the last few years there have been several important changes in the diagnostic or therapeutic methods, pleural effusion is still one of the diseases that the respiratory specialist have to evaluate frequently. The aim of this paper is to update the knowledge about pleural effusions, rather than to review the causes of pleural diseases exhaustively. These recommendations have a longer extension for the subjects with a direct clinical usefulness, but a slight update of other pleural diseases has been also included.

Abdominal ultrasound and medical education.

Introduction: Ultrasound is a very versatile diagnostic modality that permits real-time visualization of multiple internal organs. It is of invaluable help for the physical examination of the patients.

Aim: To assess if ultrasound can be incorporated into medical education and if the students can perform a basic abdominal ultrasound examination without the necessity of a long period of training.

[Profitability of the bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of focal pulmonary malignant lesions].

Introduction: We define focal pulmonary lesion (FPL) as an intra-parenchymatous pulmonary lesion that is well circumscribed and completely surrounded by healthy lung. It is considered that the profitability of the fine needle aspiration puncture (FNAP) in FPL < or = 2 cm is better than that of the fibrobronchoscopy (FBC).

Objective: To analyze the diagnostic profitability of the FNAP in the malignant FPL and study if it varies according to site, size and histology.

[Lymphoid interstitial pneumonia resolved through antiretroviral therapy in an adult infected by human immunodeficiency virus].

Lymphoid interstitial pneumonia (LIP) is a rare entity characterized by the infiltration of interstitial tissues and alveolar spaces by lymphocytes, plasma cells, and other lymphoreticular structures. The etiology of LIP is unknown, although associations with autoimmune and infectious factors have been described. The incidence of LIP has risen in recent years, mainly in children with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), while remaining less common in the adult population.

[Pleural mesothelioma: experience with 62 cases in 9 years].

Objectives: To describe the diagnostic approach, clinical and radiological characteristics, and survival of patients with pleural mesothelioma treated in our hospital over a 9-year period.

Patients And Method: All patients with a diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma diagnosed in our hospital from January 1992 through December 2000 were studied.

Results: Sixty-two patients (49 men) with a mean age of 65 years (range, 45-85) were diagnosed.

[Mechanical ventilation in a respiratory ward. Evolution from 1994 to 2000].

Objective: To investigate the absolute and relative frequency of mechanical ventilation in the management of patients on a respiratory medicine ward between 1994 and 2000. To describe reasons for admission, mean hospital stay and outcomes.

Setting: A tertiary-care university hospital.