GOLD grade-specific characterization of COPD in the COSYCONET multi-center trial: comparison of semiquantitative MRI and quantitative CT.

Objectives: We hypothesized that semiquantitative visual scoring of lung MRI is suitable for GOLD-grade specific characterization of parenchymal and airway disease in COPD and that MRI scores correlate with quantitative CT (QCT) and pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters.

Methods: Five hundred ninety-eight subjects from the COSYCONET study (median age = 67 (60-72)) at risk for COPD or with GOLD1-4 underwent PFT, same-day paired inspiratory/expiratory CT, and structural and contrast-enhanced MRI. QCT assessed total lung volume (TLV), emphysema, and air trapping by parametric response mapping (PRM, PRM) and airway disease by wall percentage (WP).

GOLD COPD Exacerbation History Categories and Disease Outcomes.

Importance: Previous exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ECOPD) are associated with future events. For more than a decade, patients at high risk have been defined as individuals with a history of 2 or more moderate ECOPD, 1 or more severe ECOPD, or both within 12 months, and treatments have been allocated accordingly, but these cutoffs lack validation.

Objectives: To validate ECOPD history categories by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) and explore alternative cutoffs to estimate moderate and severe ECOPD and all-cause mortality in COPD.

Unravelling the Information Contained in the Single Items of the COPD Assessment Test for Different Outcomes and Smoking Status in Patients with COPD: Results from COSYCONET.

Background: The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) comprises eight questions. We evaluated the information that each of the questions and the total score contributed to outcomes and characteristics of chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), including their dependence on smoking status.

Methods: Patients with COPD of the COSYCONET cohort with Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) grades 1-4 and the former grade 0 were included.

Association of Patients' Knowledge on the Disease and Its Management with Indicators of Disease Severity and Individual Characteristics in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Results from COSYCONET 2.

Background: In patients with chronic diseases, including those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), knowledge on the disease and its self-management is considered as relevant for improving disease control and long-term outcome. We studied to which extent components of knowledge depended on potential predictors, such as participation in educational programs and disease severity. For example, the perception of exacerbations or GOLD grade might modulate the content and reliability of COPD understanding.

Skin Markers of Premature Ageing in Patients with COPD: Results Form COSYCONET.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is commonly associated with ageing, with the prevalence and severity increasing by age. Smoking-induced premature ageing is thought to contribute to COPD, particularly lung emphysema. This study aimed to explore the relationship between lung function impairment and skin texture, as a marker of biological or premature ageing, in COPD patients.

Risky leisure noise exposure during the transition to adulthood and the impact of major life events - results of the OHRKAN cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the influence of four major life events (leaving home, full-time employment, married/cohabiting, parenthood) and socio-demographic variables on risky total leisure noise (TLN) during transition to adulthood with a special focus on visiting discotheques and listening to portable listening devices (PLDs).

Design: Longitudinal analysis of the OHRKAN cohort. Risky TLN covering 22 activities was defined as exceeding 85 dB(A) averaged over a 40-hour week.

Understanding the Omicron Variant Impact in Healthcare Workers: Insights from the Prospective COVID-19 Post-Immunization Serological Cohort in Munich (KoCo-Impf) on Risk Factors for Breakthrough and Reinfections.

This study analyzes immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and infection, including asymptomatic cases, focusing on infection risks during the Omicron wave, particularly among high-risk healthcare workers. In the KoCo-Impf study, we monitored 6088 vaccinated participants in Munich aged 18 and above. From 13 May to 31 July 2022, 2351 participants were follow-uped.

Characteristics and outcomes of patients hospitalized for infection with Influenza A, SARS-CoV-2 or respiratory syncytial virus in the season 2023/2024 in a large German primary care centre.

Background: In addition to the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 infections, those with Influenza A/B and RSV have reappeared in 2022/23. To compare the development of prevalence, clinical outcomes and risk factors, we analysed data of the season 2023/24 from the same region/hospital as for 2022/23.

Methods: Patients covering the whole age range with a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A/B, RSV were included from the internal, neurological and paediatric units of the RoMed hospital Rosenheim, Germany/Bavaria, from August 1st 2023 to 29th February 2024.

Subclinical impairment of the left atrium is associated with MRI-based lung volume but not with parameters from pulmonary function testing.

Left atrial (LA) physiology and hemodynamics are intimately connected to cardiac and lung function in health and disease. This study examined the relationship between MRI-based left atrial (LA) size and function with MRI-based lung volume and pulmonary function testing (PFT) parameters in the population-based KORA study cohort of 400 participants without overt cardiovascular disease. MRI quantification assessed LA size/function in sequences with and without ECG synchronization, alongside lung volume.

GOLD-Grade Specific Disease Characterization and Phenotyping of COPD Using Quantitative Computed Tomography in the Nationwide COSYCONET Multicenter Trial in Germany.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to apply quantitative computed tomography (QCT) for GOLD-grade specific disease characterization and phenotyping of air-trapping, emphysema, and airway abnormalities in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from a nationwide cohort study.

Methods: As part of the COSYCONET multicenter study, standardized CT in ex- and inspiration, lung function assessment (FEV1/FVC), and clinical scores (BODE index) were prospectively acquired in 525 patients (192 women, 327 men, aged 65.7 ± 8.

Midregional Proatrial Natriuretic Peptide (MRproANP) is associated with vertebral fractures and low bone density in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Background: Patients with COPD are often affected by loss of bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporotic fractures. Natriuretic peptides (NP) are known as cardiac markers, but have also been linked to fragility-associated fractures in the elderly. As their functions include regulation of fluid and mineral balance, they also might affect bone metabolism, particularly in systemic disorders such as COPD.

Statins did not reduce the frequency of exacerbations in individuals with COPD and cardiovascular comorbidities in the COSYCONET cohort.

Background: The evidence regarding effects of statins on exacerbation risk in COPD remains controversial. Previous studies often excluded patients with cardiovascular comorbidities despite their high prevalence in COPD and role for exacerbations. Based on the cardioprotective properties of statins, we hypothesised that statins may reduce the risk of exacerbations especially in patients with cardiovascular comorbidities.

Period of hospitalization and mortality in transferred versus non-transferred COVID-19 patients: results from Germany.

COVID-19 was a challenge for health-care systems worldwide, causing large numbers of hospitalizations and inter-hospital transfers. We studied whether transfer, as well as its reason, was associated with the duration of hospitalization in non-ICU and ICU patients. For this purpose, all patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 between August 1st and December 31st, 2021, in a network of hospitals in Southern Germany were comprehensively characterized regarding their clinical course, therapy, complications, transfers, reasons for transfer, involved levels of care, total period of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality, using univariate and multiple regression analyses.

Post-COVID breathlessness: a mathematical model of respiratory processing in the brain.

Breathlessness is among the most common post-COVID symptoms. In a considerable number of patients, severe breathlessness cannot be explained by peripheral organ impairment. Recent concepts have described how such persistent breathlessness could arise from dysfunctional processing of respiratory information in the brain.

The total-breath method yields higher values of DLCO and TLC than the conventional method.

Background: The 2017 ATS/ERS technical standard for measuring the single-breath diffusing capacity (DLCO) proposed the "rapid-gas-analyzer" (RGA) or, equivalently, "total-breath" (TB) method for the determination of total lung capacity (TLC). In this study, we compared DLCO and TLC values estimated using the TB and conventional method, and how estimated TLC using these two methods compared to that determined by body plethysmography.

Method: A total of 95 people with COPD (GOLD grades 1-4) and 23 healthy subjects were studied using the EasyOne Pro (ndd Medical Technologies, Switzerland) and Master Screen Body (Vyaire Medical, Höchberg, Germany).

Short-term exposure to ultrafine and fine particulate matter with multipollutant modelling on heart rate variability among seniors and children from the CorPuScula (coronary, pulmonary, sanguis) longitudinal study in Germany.

Background: Short-term exposure particulate matter with a diameter of 10 µm or less (PM) and fine particulate matter (PM) has been associated with heart rate variability (HRV), but exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) has been less well examined. We investigated the associations between the HRV outcomes and short-term exposure to UFP, PM and PM among school-aged children and seniors.

Methods: CorPuScula (Coronary, Pulmonary and Sanguis) is a longitudinal, repeated-measure panel study conducted in 2000-2002 in Munich, Germany including 52 seniors (58-94 years old) with 899 observations and 50 children (6-10 years old) with 925 observations.

Effects of triple therapy on disease burden in patients of GOLD groups C and D: results from the observational COPD cohort COSYCONET.

Background: Randomized controlled trials described beneficial effects of inhaled triple therapy (LABA/LAMA/ICS) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and high risk of exacerbations. We studied whether such effects were also detectable under continuous treatment in a retrospective observational setting.

Methods: Data from baseline and 18-month follow-up of the COPD cohort COSYCONET were used, including patients categorized as GOLD groups C/D at both visits (n = 258).

Indices of airway resistance and reactance from impulse oscillometry correlate with aerosol particle emission in different age groups.

Airborne transmission of pathogens plays a major role in the spread of infectious diseases. Aerosol particle production from the lung is thought to occur in the peripheral airways. In the present study we investigated eighty lung-healthy subjects of two age groups (20-39, 60-76 years) at rest and during exercise whether lung function parameters indicative of peripheral airway function were correlated with individual differences in aerosol particle emission.

Infection Prevention and the Protective Effects of Unidirectional Displacement Flow Ventilation in the Turbulent Spaces of the Operating Room.

Background: Unidirectional displacement flow (UDF) ventilation systems in operating rooms are characterized by a uniformity of velocity ≥80% and protect patients and operating room personnel against exposure to hazardous substances. However, the air below the surgical lights and in the surrounding zone is turbulent, which impairs the ventilation system's effect.

Aim: We first used the recovery time (RT) as specified in International Organization for Standardization 14644 to determine the particle reduction capacity in the turbulent spaces of an operating room with a UDF system.

Effects of training flights of combat jet pilots on parameters of airway function, diffusing capacity and systemic oxidative stress, and their association with flight parameters.

Background: Fighter aircraft pilots are regularly exposed to physiological challenges from high acceleration (G) forces, as well as increased breathing pressure and oxygen supply in the support systems. We studied whether effects on the lung and systemic oxidative stress were detectable after real training flights comprising of a wide variety of exposure conditions, and their combinations.

Methods: Thirty-five pilots of the German Air Force performed 145 flights with the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Midregional proatrial naturetic peptide (MRproANP) and copeptin (COPAVP) as predictors of all-cause mortality in recently diagnosed mild to moderate COPD-results from COSYCONET.

Background: MRproANP and COPAVP are prognostic markers for mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Furthermore, these biomarkers predict mortality due to cardiovascular diseases, which are important prognostically determining comorbidities in patients with COPD. However, less is known about these biomarkers in recently diagnosed mild to moderate COPD.