Polysomnographic features of low arousal threshold in overlap syndrome involving obstructive sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Purpose: In patients with overlap syndrome (OVS), the pathophysiologies of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can interact with one another. Focusing on low arousal threshold, the authors evaluated polysomnographic features of OVS patients.

Methods: This retrospective, multicenter study was conducted at three hospitals in Japan.

Effectiveness of home-based exercise in older patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A 3-year cohort study.

Aim: To determine whether home-based exercise can improve clinical outcomes in older patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using long-term oxygen therapy.

Methods: Information was provided to improve chronic obstructive pulmonary disease self-management before the onset of the present prospective 3-year cohort study. Patients selected either home-based exercise using a lower-limb cycle machine (ergo-bicycle; group E), or usual exercise (group U).

Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Associated with Chronic Inflammation.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is one of the leading causes of severe pulmonary hypertension. According to previously reported studies in the pertinent literature, chronic inflammatory conditions may be implicated in the development of CTEPH. We herein describe the case of a 56-year-old woman who was diagnosed with CTEPH in association with chronic infection.

The Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio Is Related to Disease Severity and Exacerbation in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Objective Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by systemic inflammation, the association between the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR; an indicator of inflammation) and the clinical status of COPD has not been well studied. We hypothesized that the NLR is associated with disease severity and exacerbation in COPD patients. Methods We performed blood testing, pulmonary function testing, chest computed tomography, a body composition analysis, and a 6-minute walk test and applied the modified Medical Research Council (MMRC) dyspnea scale for 141 stable COPD patients.

Atrial and Ventricular Arrhythmia-Associated Factors in Stable Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Background: Supraventricular and ventricular premature complexes (SVPC and VPC, respectively) are associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and with increased mortality in COPD patients. However, there are few reports on the causes of arrhythmia in COPD patients.

Objectives: This study explores the associations between cardiopulmonary dysfunction and COPD by comparing patients with defined arrhythmias (>100 beats per 24 h) and those without, based on 24-hour electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings.

Long-term effects of gastrectomy in patients with spirometry-defined COPD and patients at risk of COPD: a case-control study.

Objective: Comorbidities are characteristic of COPD. However, little is known about the secondary manifestations of COPD in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, we aimed to explore the long-term effects of gastrectomy in patients with spirometry-defined COPD or those at risk of COPD.

Marked improvement in leptomeningeal carcinomatosis and spinal cord metastases following alectinib treatment of crizotinib-resistant, ALK-positive lung adenocarcinoma.

We report a case of 50-year-old Japanese female with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive, crizotinib-resistant lung adenocarcinoma, whose leptomeningeal carcinomatosis and spinal cord metastases were dramatically improved by the second-generation ALK inhibitor alectinib. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed multiple brain metastases at diagnosis of lung cancer. Carboplatin/paclitaxel/bevacizumab chemotherapy was administered, but enlargement of brain tumors was observed after 3 months.

Relationship between serum cardiac troponin T level and cardiopulmonary function in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) in serum is a useful marker of acute myocardial injury, yet information is limited in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We aimed to explore the association between hs-cTnT levels and cardiac and pulmonary dysfunction in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and at-risk individuals.

Methods: We examined community-dwelling adults with/without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with a life-long smoking history, current symptoms of dyspnea during exertion, prolonged coughing, and/or sputum.

An autopsy study of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema: correlations among clinical, radiological, and pathological features.

Background: Clinical evaluation to differentiate the characteristic features of pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema is often difficult in patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE), but diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis is important for evaluating treatment options and the risk of acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia of such patients. As far as we know, it is the first report describing a correlation among clinical, radiological, and whole-lung pathological features in an autopsy cases of CPFE patients.

Methods: Experts retrospectively reviewed the clinical charts and examined chest computed tomography (CT) images and pathological findings of an autopsy series of 22 CPFE patients, and compared these with findings from 8 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients and 17 emphysema-alone patients.

A comparison of three multidimensional indices of COPD severity as predictors of future exacerbations.

Background: Prediction of future exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major concern for long-term management of this disease.

Aim: To determine which of three multidimensional assessment systems (the body mass index, obstruction, dyspnea, and exercise capacity [BODE] index; dyspnea, obstruction, smoking, exacerbations [DOSE] index; or age, dyspnea, obstruction [ADO] index) is superior for predicting exacerbations.

Methods: This was a 2-year prospective cohort study of COPD patients.

Decreased serum transforming growth factor-β1 concentration with aging is associated with the severity of emphysema in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Aim: Age-associated changes of the lung might increase pathogenetic susceptibility to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Decrement in serum transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 concentration is reported in elderly people. As impaired TGF-β1 signaling could cause emphysema-like changes, we hypothesized that decreased TGF-β1 with aging is correlated with emphysema.