Effectiveness of Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease With Different Degrees of Static Lung Hyperinflation.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on exercise performance and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with different degrees of static lung hyperinflation (LH).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: PR network.

Inhalation therapy for repairing damaged elastin fibers and decelerating elastinolysis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Current pharmacologic therapy of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can reduce respiratory symptoms and exacerbation frequency. However, no single COPD intervention except for lung transplantation has proven effective in recovering lung function. Lung elasticity is reduced in COPD lungs, which is for a large part due to chronically enhanced elastin degradation.

Pulmonary and right ventricular dysfunction are frequently present in heart failure irrespective of left ventricular ejection fraction.

Background: Heart failure (HF) may influence the lungs and vice versa. However, this interaction and the influence on right ventricular function (RVF) are insufficiently described in patients with HF divided into the recent groups based on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF): HF with reduced, midrange and preserved ejection fraction (HFrEF, HFmrEF and HFpEF, respectively).

Methods: Overall, 186 consecutive stable patients with HF seen in our outpatient clinic were retrospectively divided into HFrEF (n=70), HFmrEF (n=55) and HFpEF (n=61).

Efficacy of advance care planning: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To systematically review the efficacy of advance care planning (ACP) interventions in different adult patient populations.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analyses.

Data Sources: Medline/PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (1966 to September 2013), and reference lists.

Comorbidities in patients with COPD and pulmonary rehabilitation: do they matter?

It is now recognised that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous disease with many systemic features. Cardiovascular, metabolic, musculoskeletal and psychological comorbidities contribute to the morbidity and mortality in all stages of the disease. The presence of comorbid conditions has important consequences for disease assessment and management.

Changes in body composition in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: do they influence patient-related outcomes?

Aims: The follow-up of the ECLIPSE study, a prospective longitudinal study to identify and define parameters that predict disease progression over 3 years in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), allows the examination of the effect of body composition changes on COPD-related outcomes.

Methods: Body composition and health status were established in 2,115 COPD patients, 327 smoking and 239 nonsmoking controls at baseline and 3 years, while mortality was recorded in year 2 and 3 in the COPD patients. Associations between fat free mass index (FFMI) and fat mass index (FMI) changes to deterioration in health status and mortality were determined.

Within-day test-retest reliability of the Timed Up & Go test in patients with advanced chronic organ failure.

Objective: To investigate the within-day test-retest reliability of the Timed Up & Go (TUG) test in patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic heart failure (CHF), and chronic renal failure (CRF).

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Patients' home environment.

Quantitative CT: Associations between Emphysema, Airway Wall Thickness and Body Composition in COPD.

The objective of the present study was to determine the association between CT phenotypes-emphysema by low attenuation area and bronchitis by airway wall thickness-and body composition parameters in a large cohort of subjects with and without COPD. In 452 COPD subjects and 459 subjects without COPD, CT scans were performed to determine emphysema (%LAA), airway wall thickness (AWT-Pi10), and lung mass. Muscle wasting based on FFMI was assessed by bioelectrical impedance.

Abdominal fat mass contributes to the systemic inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Unlabelled: BACK GROUND & AIMS: Altered body composition in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often reflected by muscle wasting, while only few studies have focused on abdominal fat mass. The contribution of abdominal fat mass to the systemic inflammation often present in COPD has not been examined yet. The aim of the present study was to investigate if abdominal fat mass contributes to the systemic inflammation in patients with moderate to severe COPD.

Critical view on diagnosing muscle wasting by single-frequency bio-electrical impedance in COPD.

Background: Assessment of muscle wasting in COPD is relevant as it is independently associated with metabolic and functional consequences and even survival. Muscle wasting can be approached by assessing fat free mass (FFM), but it is already demonstrated that FFM measured by bio-electrical impedance analysis (BIA) underestimates FFM measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (FFM(DExA)) in a relatively small COPD group.

Objective: To evaluated critical points for defining muscle wasting in a large cohort of moderate to severe COPD patients and with DEXA scan as reference.