Search results for "Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine"

Does angioedema influence the quality of life in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria?

2019

Reslizumab as add-on therapy in patients with refractory asthma

2020

### Key messages #### What is the key question? #### What is the bottom line? #### Why read on? Asthma is a common disease, affecting an estimated 334 million people worldwide, with considerable impact on quality of life and high associated costs.1–3 Asthma severity is assessed retrospectively from the level of treatment required to control symptoms and exacerbations. Approximately 5%–10% of patients with asthma are believed to suffer from severe disease.4 Patients with severe asthma typically require ongoing maintenance therapy with high-dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/long-acting beta-agonist (LABA).2 Furthermore, systemic corticosteroids (SCS) are often required for potentially life-th…

A randomized, double-blind study to compare the efficacy and safety of two doses of mometasone furoate delivered via Breezhaler® or Twisthaler® in pa…

2019

Abstract Introduction Mometasone furoate (MF) is the inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) component in the long-acting β2-agonist (LABA)/ICS fixed-dose combination of indacaterol/MF, delivered via Breezhaler®, in development for asthma. MF at low (80 μg) and high (320 μg) doses delivered via Breezhaler® is expected to be comparable to MF at low (200 μg) and high (800 μg) doses respectively, delivered via Twisthaler®. Methods This was a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, four-week, parallel-group study of 739 adolescents and adults with persistent asthma. Eligible patients were receiving ICS treatment up to the maximum dose per day on a stable regimen for at least four weeks before screening. T…

Spontaneous gastroesophageal reflux and airway patency during the night in adult asthmatics

2000

Controversies still exist on the role of nighttime gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in precipitating nocturnal asthma. We tested the relationship between GER and nocturnal bronchoconstriction by continuously and simultaneously monitoring both respiratory resistances and esophageal pH in seven asthmatics with moderate to severe GER disease. Twenty-nine GER episodes were found during the study night lasting more than 5 min (LGER) and 72 not longer than 5 min (SGER). Both long (LGER) and short (SGER) gastroesophageal refluxes were able to maintain significantly higher lower respiratory resistances (RLR) at the resolution of each GER episode (RLR(e)) with respect to baseline values. RLR, expressed…

Omalizumab in patients with severe persistent allergic asthma in a real-life setting in Germany

2009

Omalizumab is a humanized monoclonal anti-immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody indicated in Europe for the treatment of uncontrolled severe persistent allergic (IgE-mediated) asthma despite optimal therapy with inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta(2) agonists. Between 2005 and 2007 280 patients (58% female, mean age 44+/-16 yrs., 46% on oral corticosteroids, median serum IgE level 235IU/ml) who met the EU criteria for add-on therapy with anti-IgE were treated prospectively with omalizumab by 134 physicians as part of a post-marketing surveillance trial and were followed-up for 6 months. The median follow-up time was 195 days, the patients were treated with a median dose of 450mg omalizum…

Differences in sensitivity, maximal response and position of the concentration-response curve to methacholine between asthmatics, patients with aller…

1998

The aim of this study was to detect differences in maximal response and position of the concentration-response curves to methacholine between asthmatics and subjects with allergic rhinitis. A total of 228 adults (107 mild asthmatics, 96 allergic rhinitics and 25 healthy control subjects) were challenged with methacholine. The test was interrupted when FEV1 dropped by more than 40% or when the highest concentration of methacholine (200 mg ml-1) had been administered. Concentration-response curves were characterized by their PC20 (concentration of methacholine that produced 20% fall in FEV1 = airway sensitivity), and if possible, by their EC50 (concentration of methacholine that produced 50% …

Cigarette Smoking, But Not Sensitization toAlternaria, Is Associated with Severe Asthma in Urban Patients

2001

Hereditary susceptibility and allergen exposure have been identified as general risk factors for asthma. However, risk factors for severe asthma still remain to be identified. To further assess and quantify risk factors associated with severe asthma in adult patients apart from clinical exacerbations, 306 randomly selected subjects (mean age 40+/-17 years, 46% males) presenting to an inner city pulmonary practice between 1995 and 1996 were retrospectively investigated. Of these, 117 patients were atopic, 112 had current asthma, and 22 asthmatics had severe asthma. Risk factors associated with atopy were family history of atopy and any domestic pet ownership (OR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.64-6.1). Asth…

Rapid left ventricular filling in untreated hypertensive subjects with or without left ventricular hypertrophy

1992

In this study, independent contribution of age, HR, BMI, casual and ambulatory blood pressure, LVM and LVEF in evaluating diastolic filling have been investigated in 34 never-treated hypertensive patients and in 15 healthy normotensive subjects. All the subjects were free from coronary artery disease, valvular disease, heart failure, renal disease and psychiatric problems. All the hypertensive subjects (never treated) were subgrouped according to presence or absence of LVH. The PFR decreased significantly and tPFR increased significantly in hypertensive patients in comparison with normotensive subjects and they did not change in the presence vs absence of LVH. The PFR was inversely correlat…

Glutathione and glutathione peroxidase in sputum samples of adult patients with cystic fibrosis

2004

AbstractBackground: Reduced glutathione (GSH) is a major antioxidant in the lung. In cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, extracellular GSH levels of lower airways, obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), were reported to be lower than non-CF individuals. Methods: Upper airway secretions of stable adult CF patients (29 spontaneous and 13 induced sputum) and non-CF individuals (14 healthy and 12 asthmatics; all induced sputum) were analyzed for total glutathione (i.e. the sum of reduced, GSH, and oxidized, GSSG, forms), GSH and GSSG levels by enzymatic kinetic assay. Results: In CF, both spontaneous and induced sputum samples were comparable in total glutathione levels which were surprisingly hi…

Predicting hypoxia in cystic fibrosis patients during exposure to high altitudes

2006

Abstract Background For patients with cystic fibrosis (CF)-related partial respiratory insufficiency and reduced arterial oxygen tension at ground level, the mild hypobaric environment on commercial jet aircraft poses the risk of severe hypoxemia. Thus, physicians should be able to estimate the extent of in-flight hypoxia. Objectives To derive tools for estimating the expected drop in arterial oxygen partial pressure (paO 2 ) and oxygen saturation (saO 2 ) in young adult CF patients with mild to moderate airway obstruction during exposure to the hypobaric conditions aboard commercial aircraft and to test the predictive power of a hypobaric chamber simulation. Methods Blood gases of 12 CF pa…