Search results for "Respiratory disease"
showing 10 items of 278 documents
Deep inspiration-induced changes in lung volume decrease with severity of asthma
2007
Summary We have previously reported that the magnitude of deep inspiration (DI)-induced bronchodilation is only slightly reduced in mild asthmatics, compared to healthy subjects. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether increased severity of asthma is associated with impairment in the ability of DI to induce changes in lung volume. Thirty-six consecutive asthmatics recruited from the Pulmonary and the Allergy Outpatient Clinics of the Institute of Respiratory Diseases of the University of Palermo were divided into 3 groups: Intermittent (I), Mild Persistent (MP) and Moderate–Severe (MS), based on GINA guidelines. Single dose methacholine (Mch) bronchoprovocations were performed in the …
High-Resolution Computed Tomographic Evaluation of Airway Distensibility and the Effects of Lung Inflation on Airway Caliber in Healthy Subjects and …
2001
The effects of a deep inspiration (DI) in individuals with asthma differ from those observed in healthy subjects. It has been postulated that the beneficial effect of lung inflation is mediated by airway stretch. One hypothesis to explain the defects in the function of lung inflation in asthma is that a DI may be unable to stretch the airways. This may result from attenuation of the tethering forces between the airways and the surrounding parenchyma. In the current study, we used high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) to examine the ability of a DI to distend the airways of subjects with asthma (n = 10) compared with healthy subjects (n = 9) at baseline and after increasing airway tone …
Airway neutrophilia in COPD is not associated with increased neutrophil survival
2006
Neutrophilic airway inflammation is a prominent feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and correlates with disease severity. The mechanisms that determine the extent of neutrophilia could involve increased influx or prolonged survival of neutrophils. The aim of the study was to assess whether neutrophil pro-survival mechanisms are increased in the airways of subjects with COPD owing to the presence of anti-apoptotic factors in the bronchial lining fluid. Induced sputum samples were collected from 20 subjects with stable COPD, 14 healthy smokers and 14 healthy controls. Quantification of apoptotic neutrophils was based on typical morphological cell changes. Anti-apoptotic, p…
Airway Responsiveness to Histamine in Patients Refractory to Repeated Exercise
1988
To investigate the mechanisms contributing to refractoriness in exercise-induced asthma (EIA), airway responsiveness to histamine was studied in eight asthmatic patients. Patients were included in the study on the basis of their refractory response to multiple exercise challenges. Incremental challenges with inhaled histamine were performed at rest and 40 minutes after single and paired exercise tests. The geometric mean histamine concentration required to produce a 20 percent fall in FEV1 (PC20) for the challenge after paired exercise test (4.34 mg/ml) was significantly higher (p greater than 0.001) than those for the challenges after a single exercise (1.05 mg/ml) and for the challenge at…
Monitoring free serum IgE in severe asthma patients treated with omalizumab
2012
SummaryBackgroundBenefit of treatment with the monoclonal anti-IgE-antibody omalizumab in severe IgE-dependent asthma requires a significant reduction of serum free IgE concentrations. It is unclear if monitoring free serum IgE is clinically meaningful once omalizumab treatment is initiated.MethodsFree IgE and omalizumab serum concentrations were quantified in 22 patients with severe asthma (68% female, 47 ± 11 yrs, mean (±SD) pre-bronchodilator FEV1 62 ± 13%, baseline mean (±SEM) free serum IgE 652 ± 136 ng/ml) treated with omalizumab for 4 months using a Recovery-ELISA.ResultsOmalizumab treatment reduced free serum IgE prior to the second omalizumab injection by 73%, after 16 weeks by 81%…
Gender Differences in Health‐Related Quality of Life Among Patients with Asthma
2004
This study has a twofold objective: 1) to explore to what extent suffering from asthma affects the HRQL of men and women differently at several stages of disease severity and 2) to analyze whether the informed poorer HRQL of asthmatic women is related to their higher scores on instruments measuring emotionally disordered symptoms. One hundred fifty-one outpatient asthmatics (84 women and 67 men) completed the Spanish versions of the Asthma Quality of Life questionnaire (AQL), as well as anxiety and depression inventories. A full history, physical examination, and pulmonary function test were performed on all subjects. Patients were classified into one of four asthma severity categories foll…
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…
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…
Improvement of tricuspid regurgitation after pulmonary thromboendarterectomy
2002
For patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension who undergo pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) it has not yet been systematically investigated how operation affects the severity of tricuspid regurgitation (TR). This study sought (1) to evaluate the extent of TR reversibility after operation, (2) to identify potential predictors of the reversibility of TR, and (3) to investigate the influence of geometric and hemodynamic alterations on the extent of TR severity.Thirty-nine patients (55+/-12 years) undergoing PTE without tricuspid valve repair were investigated before and 13+/-8 days after operation by Doppler color flow mapping. Geometry of the tricuspid valve as well as r…
Incidence of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing thoracotomy for lung cancer
2008
Limited information exists on the incidence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism (vTE) in patients undergoing chest surgery for lung cancer. Several factors increase the thromboembolic risk in patients undergoing surgery for lung cancer: the intrinsic procoagulant effect of cancer,extensive surgical intervention, dependent limb position in the operating room, and vessel injury consequent to the operation. Furthermore,these patients might be especially vulnerable to pulmonary embolism (PE) because of the loss of lung tissue and the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular diseases caused by smoking.t Older studies found a very high incidence of thromboembolic eve…