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Introduction: Appropriate vaccination status in the pre-solid organ transplant period is critically important. Methods: To determine if lung transplant candidates are adequately vaccinated for Streptococcus pneumoniae, a cross-sectional study was [...]

T helper (Th) type 2 cytokines, particularly interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, and IL-13, may be important in the development of allergic asthma. Humanized monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) against IL-5 and a recombinant [...]

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare idiopathic autoimmune lung disease in adults characterized by the accumulation of lipoproteinaceous material within the alveoli of the lung. The natural history of [...]

Aspergillus fumigatus, a widely distributed spore-bearing fungus, is commonly grown in sputum cultures of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). A fumigatus may cause allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA), a complex condition [...]

Study objective: To determine the bronchodilator effect of recombinant human B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP; nesiritide) on patients with asthma. Design: A prospective, open-label study. Setting: Outpatient setting. Patients: Eight adult [...]

Background: Bronchodilation following deep inspiration is usually impaired in patients with asthma. This might be due to changes in airway mechanics in the presence of inflammation or structural changes within [...]

Background: The ratio of controller medication to total asthma medications has been related to asthma utilization outcomes, but its relationship to patient-centered outcomes has not been explored. Methods: Surveys that [...]

Objectives: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, which are frequently administered in patients with heart disease, have a known inhibitory effect on erythropoiesis. The aim of this study was to detect whether [...]

Background: Many organizations, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, measure the percentage of patients hospitalized with pneumonia who receive antibiotics within 4 h of presentation. Because the diagnosis [...]

Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) frequently complicates connective tissue diseases (CTDs). Glucocorticoids and immunomodulatory agents are regarded as mainstays of therapy for CTD-related ILD; however, apart from those studies that [...]

Objectives: The time to the first antibiotic dose (TFAD) has been adopted as a measure of quality of care in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) based on two retrospective studies [...]

Study objectives: Asthmatic patients lose lung function faster than normal subjects. The effectiveness of early intervention with inhaled corticosteroids on this decline in lung function is not established in recent-onset [...]

Study objectives: Oral corticosteroids (OCS) may be associated with systemic adverse events (AEs), which can be reduced by replacing OCS with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). The potential of ciclesonide, a novel [...]

Background: Randomized controlled trials have shown conflicting findings about the role of intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy for the treatment of empyema and complicated parapneumonic effusions in adult patients. Objectives: To assess [...]

Background: The prognostic role of low sputum eosinophils in steroid-naive, symptomatic asthmatic patients is controversial. Aim: To verify whether low sputum eosinophils predict poor response to treatment with inhaled corticosteroids. [...]

Objective: In vitro data suggest that the S-enantiomer of albuterol can induce mucociliary dysfunction. This clinical study assesses the clinical significance of standard doses of the S-enantiomer on airway secretions [...]

Study objectives: The primary objective was to determine whether high-dose formoterol, 24 µg bid, was associated with more asthma exacerbations compared with lower formoterol doses in patients with stable persistent [...]

Study objective: To compare the safety of salmeterol xinafoate or placebo added to usual asthma care. Design: A 28-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, observational study. Setting: Study subjects were seen once [...]

Study objectives: Based on anecdotal reports of formoterol aggregating in mailboxes in the summer in Arizona, we examined the effect of heat on formoterol as well as on drug delivery. [...]

Background: In asthmatic subjects, not only airway sensitivity but maximal airway response are increased on the dose-response curve to methacholine, and peak expiratory flow (PEr) variability is closely related to [...]

Purpose: We investigated whether oral tetracyclines could produce an efficient and safe pleurodesis as does parenteral doxycycline, which is currently unavailable in many countries. Methods: Parenteral doxycycline (10 mg/kg), oral [...]

Background: Within a study on respiratory symptoms in rural areas, we used the European Community Respiratory Health Survey methacholine challenge protocol. For quicker and more reliable handling, we had to [...]

Context: Antimicrobial cardiac safety is of particular concern during the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in elderly patients, due to the presence of comorbid conditions and the use of multiple [...]

Study objectives: This study investigated whether epidural methadone perfusion at the thoracic level can mitigate dyspnea in patients with advanced emphysema. Design: Open-label clinical trial without a control group. Setting: [...]

Study objectives: To assess the resolution of pleural disease in patients with tuberculous pleurisy (TP) during and after antituberculosis medication. Design: An observational, prospective, longitudinal study. Setting: University-affiliated general hospital [...]

Study objectives: Rhinitis and asthma are considered to be synchronic or sequential forms of the same allergic syndrome. Treating the inflammation associated with allergic rhinitis influences the control of asthma. [...]

Post-cardiac surgery atrial fibrillation (AF) places patients at risk for thromboembolism and stroke, while the surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass alter the multiple factors of coagulation and may increase the tendency [...]

New-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) occurs frequently in patients after cardiac surgery. The purpose of this study was to review the published trials and to provide clinical practice guidelines for pharmacologic [...]

Of the 128 articles evaluated on the overall topic of atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiac surgery, only 19 studies dealing with pharmacologic heart rhythm control were relevant for inclusion in [...]

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients with acute medical illness. The high prevalence of VTE in this patient population, its clinically silent [...]

Background: The majority of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients (about 80%) will be treated as outpatients, because therapy with a single agent will work. For the remaining 20% of patients requiring [...]

There is considerable interest in the use of azithromycin for the treatment of lung disease in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Although its mechanism of action as an inhibitor of [...]

Study objectives: It is well known that systemic administration of corticosteroids has a dual effect on growth hormone (GH) secretion in man: acute systemic administration stimulates GH release, whereas chronic [...]

Study objectives: To estimate the penetration of gentamicin into lung tissue by measuring its concentrations in alveolar lining fluid (ALF) and blood in critically ill patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). [...]

Study objectives: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common cause of lower respiratory disease. Several studies have suggested that respiratory infection by M pneumoniae is associated with reactive airway disease and asthma. [...]

Study objectives: To assess the effect of ribavirin-induced anemia on the outcome of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Design: A retrospective observational study. Setting: Two medical centers in Taiwan. Patients: [...]

Study objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of levofloxacin (L) as monotherapy in patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in comparison with therapy using a combination of cefotaxime (C) [...]

Background: Capsaicin, the pungent extract of red peppers, has achieved widespread use in clinical research because it induces cough in a dose-dependent and reproducible manner. Although > 2 decades of [...]

Context: Despite the investigation of multiple therapeutic options, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) remains a devastating, progressively fatal disease. Much interest has focused on the use of interferon (IFN)-γ1b therapy, but [...]

Study objectives: Mometasone furoate dry powder inhaler (MF-DPI) [400 µg] is an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) that is effective in the treatment of asthma. MF-DPI has a low potential for suppression [...]

Study objectives: Despite the widespread use of short-acting, inhaled [β.sub.2]-agonists in acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPDs), little is known about their optimal dose. The aims of this study are to [...]

Severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) is the term used to refer to those patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) who are admitted to an ICU. The frequency of SCAP is variable, ranging [...]

Rationale: Airway hyperresponsiveness to adenosine monophosphate (AMP) has been validated as a surrogate marker for airway inflammation. We wished to know whether an abbreviated challenge at the final threshold dose [...]

Background: The use of anticoagulant therapy is expanding among the elderly population, in part because of the increasing prevalence of atrial fibrillation. Published data describing the warfarin maintenance dose requirements [...]

Postoperative bleeding is a common complication following cardiothoracic surgical procedures requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Serious bleeding complications requiring the administration of blood products, bemostatic drugs, and even repeat surgery are [...]

Study objectives: In patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) secondary to congestive heart failure, inhaled nitric oxide (NO) increases pulmonary vascular smooth-muscle intracellular cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) concentration, thereby decreasing pulmonary [...]

Objectives: Release of thromboxane (Tx) [A.sub.2] by platelets may be one of multiple factors that are responsible for lung injury after cardiopulmonary bypass, leading to pulmonary vasoconstriction and impaired oxygenation. [...]

Study objectives: Salmeterol (S) and montelukast (M) individually inhibit the obstructive consequences of thermal stimuli such as exercise and hyperventilation (HV), but there is no information on whether these drugs [...]

Context: A growing body of reports has documented the ability of anticoagulation management services to help patients receiving warfarin therapy achieve better outcomes compared to the care provided by their [...]

Background: Statins confer cardiovascular benefits beyond the reduction of serum cholesterol through antiproliferative and antiinflammatory mechanisms and induction of endothelial nitric oxide expression. In pneumoneetomized rats injected with monocrotaline, simvastatin [...]