Improved survival at the cost of more chronic lung disease?Current management and outcomes in extremely preterm infants born in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory:2010-2020

Background Since 2010,most tertiary care hospitals in Australia have changed how they care for extremely premature infants.However,in-hospital and longer-term outcome data have suggested unchanged or even worse health outcomes in later epochs,especially respiratory outcomes.This study examined the trend in outcomes since these changes were introduced,particularly the prevalence of chronic neonatal lung disease(CLD).Methods This is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of data from the Neonatal Intensive Care Units'(NICUS)database of all perinatal intensive care units in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory,including infants born at≥24 and≤28 weeks of gestational age in tertiary perinatal units between January 1,2010,and December 31,2020.Temporal trends and changes in primary outcome were examined by linear and adjusted multivariable logistic regression models.Results This study included 3258 infants.We saw significant changes in antenatal magnesium sulfate(75% increase),delayed cord clamping(66% increase),delivery room intubations(30% decrease),any time(20% decrease),duration on mechanical ventilation(100-hour decrease),and hours on noninvasive ventilation(200-hour increase).Mortality decreased from 17% to 6%.The incidence of CLD increased significantly even when adjusted for confounders(15% increase).Any time and mean hours spent on mechanical ventilation significantly increased the odds of CLD.This study could not find a significant association of any of the protective antenatal treatments on CLD.Conclusions The last decade saw a significant improvement in survival and survival to discharge without major morbidity.There was increased use of magnesium sulfate,delayed cord clamping,and less invasive respiratory management of extremely preterm infants.The avoidance of mechanical ventilation may impact the incidence of CLD.

Cutaneous Cryptococcosis Arising in a Patient with Idiopathic Lung Disease: Related Illnesses or “Ticks and Fleas”

Cryptococcus is a yeast typically found in bird feces such as pigeon droppings. Infection may occur through inhalation of spores or via direct inoculation into the skin. Typically there is a history of immunosuppression, but cases are also reported in immunocompetent hosts. Cryptococcus may manifest as pulmonary disease or primary cutaneous infection, but dissemination to a systemic illness is the most life-threatening concern. We present the case of a 71-year-old man with a four-year history of idiopathic lung disease, treated with oral prednisone and mycophenolate, presents with a new onset skin rash on the right wrist. He has a history of cleaning and clearing barns and sheds after a recent storm devastated the area. Birds and bats were present in these structures while he was working. Initial therapy failed, and subsequent biopsy showed the presence of Cryptococcus yeast. Further investigation yielded a positive, low titer Cryptococcus antigen screen but negative blood cultures. This case illustrates three valuable facets of patient care. Ideally, one diagnosis will explain all of the clinical presentation, but when that is not the case then multiple etiologies must be explored. Sometimes first-line therapy is ineffective, and the clinician should not be afraid to recognize that and change course. Importantly with skin lesions, failure to respond to treatment or worsening of the lesion in the face of topical and/or oral steroids should lead one to consider the possibility of infection, particularly in an immunosuppressed patient, and prompt biopsy is prudent.

Evaluation of Life Quality and Dyspnea Intensity on Chronic Airway Diseases Patients in Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program

The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are chronic airway diseases that cause considerable physical, emotional and social restrictions. The life quality of patients who suffer from these diseases, is more affected by dyspnea then by other symptoms. That way is possible to correlate the impact of dyspnea on their life quality. The Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program (PRP) helps to improve the physical fitness and quality of life. This paper presents a study of the life quality and the dyspnea intensity in chronic lung disease patients. The research has participation of fourteen patients, distributed as seven suffering from COPD and the other seven suffering from asthma, for both gender and with an age average of 74.2 ± 8.9. The patients answer the following questionnaires: Baseline Dyspnea Index (BDI), Medical Research Council (MRC) Dyspnea Scale, Airways Questionnaire 20 (AQ20) and the Brazilian version of the Short-Form (SF-36) life quality questionnaire. From the present study, it was concluded that asthma patients have a less impaired life quality, since the dyspnea intensity is lesser, compared to the one with COPD.

Does the 2017 global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease revision really improve the assessment of Chinese chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients?A multicenter prospective study for more than 5 years

Background:The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease(GOLD)2017 proposed a new classification that reclassified many chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)patients from group D to B.However,there is a paucity of data related to the comparison between reclassified and non-reclassified COPD patients in terms of long-term prognosis.This study aimed to investigate long-term outcomes of them and determine whether the GOLD 2017 revision improved the assessment of COPD patients.Methods:This observational,multicenter,prospective study recruited outpatients at 12 tertiary hospitals in China from November 2016 to February 2018 and followed them up until February 2022.All enrolled patients were classified into groups A toDbased on GOLD 2017,and the subjects in group B included patients reclassified from group D to B(group DB)and those remaining in group B(group BB).Incidence rates and hazard ratios(HRs)were calculated for the exacerbation of COPD and hospitalization in each group.Results:We included and followed up 845 patients.During the first year of follow-up,the GOLD 2017 classification had a better discrimination ability for different risks of COPD exacerbation and hospitalization than GOLD 2013.Group DB was associated with a higher risk of moderate-to-severe exacerbation(HR=1.88,95%confidence interval[CI]=1.37-2.59,P<0.001)and hospitalization for COPD exacerbation(HR=2.23,95%CI=1.29-3.85,P=0.004)than group BB.However,during the last year of follow-up,the differences in the risks of frequent exacerbations and hospitalizations between group DB and BB were not statistically significant(frequent exacerbations:HR=1.02,95%CI=0.51-2.03,P=0.955;frequent hospitalizations:HR=1.66,95%CI=0.58-4.78,P=0.348).The mortality rates of the two groups were both approximately 9.0%during the entire follow-up period.Conclusions:The long-term prognosis of patients reclassified into group B and of those remaining in group B was similar,although patients reclassified from group D to group B had worse short-term outcomes.The GOLD 2017 revision could improve the assessment of Chinese COPD patients in terms of long-term prognosis.

Non-Invasive Pressure Support Ventilation in Major Lung Resection for High Risk Patients: Does It Matter?

Background and purpose: Patients with severely impaired pulmonary function have an increased operative risk for major lung resection. The clinical benefits of pre- and perioperative, non-invasive pressure support ventilation (NIPSV) have up to now not been extensively evaluated. Patients with severely reduced pulmonary function were investigated in this prospective and randomised single centre clinical trial. Methods: Standard pulmonary evaluation was performed in all patients before major lung resection. To predict postoperative pulmonary function, a lung perfusion-ventilation scan was carried out. All patients enrolled in the study were instructed preoperatively on how to use a NIPSV respirator. Af-ter lung resection patients were randomised either for continuation of NIPSV or for standard treatment. Results: Of the 52 patients assessed, 21 patients met the inclusion criteria for the study protocol. Predicted mean postoperative FEV1 was 1.10 L (range 0.92 - 1.27 L). Lobectomy was performed in 14 patients, pneumonectomy in 6 patients and a segmentectomy in 1 patient. No inhospital deaths occurred. Pulmonary complications (reintubation, pneumonia) were more frequent in the NIPSV group than in the control group (3 patients versus 1 patient), without statistical significance (p = 0.31). Conclusions: We observed no mortality and a low morbidity in this high risk group. Postoperative continuation of NIPSV had no beneficial effect on the clinical outcome. Preoperative conditioning with NIPSV, however, seems to be a suitable tool for patients with severely impaired pulmonary function. This study may serve therefore as basis for further investigations for the potential clinical benefits of prophylactic NIPSV in major lung surgery.

Twenty years of changes in the disease assessment method of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease

The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease(GOLD)has been changing for nearly 20 years.GOLD has moved from single assessment using spirometry to a more comprehensive assessment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using spirometry,symptoms and exacerbation history.And subsequently,a new assessment system for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease separated spirometric grades from the old assessment system,and classified patients only according to their symptoms and history of exacerbation.The distribution,clinical characteristics,treatment,and prognosis of the new subgroups were different from the old ones.In this review,we will present a brief profile of changes made to the disease assessment method of GOLD,based on the relevant existing literature.

Twenty years of changes in the definition of early chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)is a chronic inflammatory airway disease that affects the quality of life of nearly one-tenth of the global population.Due to irreversible airflow obstruction and progressive lung function decline,COPD is characterized by high mortality and disability rates,which imposes a huge economic burden on society.In recent years,the importance of intervention in the early stage of COPD has been recognized and the concept of early COPD has been proposed.Identifying and intervening in individuals with early COPD,some of whom have few or no symptoms,might halt or reverse the progressive decline in lung function,improve the quality of life,and better their prognosis.However,understanding of early COPD is not yet well established,and there are no unified and feasible diagnostic criteria,which complicates clinical research.In this article,we review evolution of the definition of early COPD over the past 20 years,describe the changes in awareness of this concept,and propose future research directions.

New disease severity classification of patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Shanghai

Background The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease （GOLD） presented a new ABCD group classification of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease （COPD）.We aimed to examine the association of spirometric classification and the new GOLD classification with exacerbations,and to compare symptoms in different ways.Methods We investigated 848 patients with stable COPD from 24 hospitals.The annual frequencies of acute exacerbation and hospitalization were compared between the old and new classification.The symptom level was assessed using COPD assessment test （CAT） and modified British Medical Research Council （mMRC） questionnaire.Results A total of 848 patients were included in this study.According to spirometric classification,there were 32 patients of grade Ⅰ （3.8％）,315 of grade Ⅱ （37.1％）,366 of grade Ⅲ （43.2％）,and 135 of grade Ⅳ （15.9％）.According to GOLD 2011 classification,there were 59 patients of group A （7.0％）,172 of group B （20.3％）,55 of group C （6.5％）,and 562 of group D （66.3％）.In spirometric classification,the annual frequencies of acute exacerbation and associated hospitalization were respectively 1 （0-3） and 0 （0-2） for grade Ⅰ; 1 （0-5） and 0 （0-2） for grade Ⅱ; 2 （0-6） and 1 （0-3） for grade Ⅲ,and 3 （0-6） and 2 （0-3） for grade Ⅳ.In GOLD 2011,respectively 0 （0-3） and 0 （0-1） （group A）,1 （0-4） and 0 （0-3） （group B）,1 （0-5） and 0 （0-3） （group C）,and 3 （0-6） and 1 （0-3） （group D）.There were no significant difference between group B and C （Z=-1.347,P=0.178; Z=-0.772,P=0.440,respectively）.The coincidence rate using mMRC=1 and CAT=10 as cutoff points was 86.6％ （734/848,x=0.706）,compared with 77.9％ （661/848,K=0.60） using mMRC=2 and CAT=10.Conclusions Lung function test may be a better predictor of acute exacerbation and associated hospitalization of COPD.It is more appropriate to use mMRC=1 as cutoff point for assessing COPD symptoms.