Phase 2, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled Trial of a c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Inhibitor in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a fatal and progressive disease with limited treatment options. We sought to assess the efficacy and safety of CC-90001, an oral inhibitor of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1, in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In a Phase 2, randomized (1:1:1), double-blind, placebo-controlled study (ClinicalTrials.

[Incidence of pulmonary complications in myocardial revascularization].

Background: despite the increasingly careful attempts to reduce perioperative risks, pulmonary complications following surgery are still very common, leading to longer length of hospital stays or death.

Objective: to describe the incidence of pulmonary complications and identify their association with duration of extracorporeal circulation (ECC), surgery and ischemia, number of bypass grafts performed, location of drains and length of drainage following myocardial revascularization (MRV).

Methods: this contemporaneous cohort consisted of 202 patients undergoing elective myocardial revascularization (MRV) with saphenous vein graft and internal mammary artery graft and ECC, at a referral university cardiology hospital in Southern Brazil, from April 2006 to November 2007.

Ventilatory profile of patients undergoing CABG surgery.

Objective: To assess the ventilatory, radiological and clinical profile of patients undergoing elective CABG in a cardiology reference hospital in South Brazil.

Methods: This study included 108 patients undergoing elective CABG surgery, in the period between April 2006 and February 2007 at the Cardiology Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (IC-FUC). The surgical procedure involved median sternotomy, and the saphenous vein and/or internal mammary artery were used for grafting.

Accuracy of clinical examination findings in the diagnosis of COPD.

Objective: Simple diagnostic methods can facilitate the diagnosis of COPD, which is a major public health problem. The objective of this study was to investigate the accuracy of clinical variables in the diagnosis of COPD.

Methods: Patients with COPD and control subjects were prospectively evaluated by two investigators regarding nine clinical variables.

Intravenous azithromycin plus ceftriaxone followed by oral azithromycin for the treatment of inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia: an open-label, non-comparative multicenter trial.

Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) is a major public health problem. In Brazil it has been estimated that 2,000,000 people are affected by CAP every year. Of those, 780,000 are admitted to hospital, and 30,000 have death as the outcome.

Sputum examination in the clinical management of community-acquired pneumonia.

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of the use of sputum examination in the clinical management of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in a general hospital and to determine whether its use has an impact on mortality.

Methods: The medical records of CAP patients treated as inpatients between May and November of 2004 at the Nossa Senhora da Conceição Hospital, located in Porto Alegre, Brazil, were reviewed regarding the following aspects: age; gender; severity of pneumonia (Fine score); presence of sputum; sputum bacteriology; treatment history; change in treatment; and mortality.

Results: A total of 274 CAP patients (134 males and 140 females) were evaluated.

Asthma management in a public referral center in Porto Alegre in comparison with the guidelines established in the III Brazilian Consensus on Asthma Management.

Objective: To determine whether the guidelines put forth in the III Brazilian Consensus on Asthma Management are being applied in a population of asthma patients treated at a public hospital that is a referral center for asthma in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Methods: All adult asthma patients who began their treatment between 1999 and 2002 were evaluated. The treatment given was classified as consistent or inconsistent with the Consensus guidelines.

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression in asthma: effect of asthma severity, allergen challenge, and inhaled corticosteroids.

Background: Asthma is associated with remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and increased airway obstruction, and the mechanisms of this process are unknown. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a group of enzymes capable of degrading the ECM. They are released along with their inhibitors, tissue inhibitor of MMP (TIMP).