Diagnostic test interpretation and referral delay in patients with interstitial lung disease.

BACKGROUND:Diagnostic delays are common in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD). A substantial percentage of patients experience a diagnostic delay in the primary care setting, but the factors underpinning this observation remain unclear. In this multi-center investigation, we assessed ILD reporting on diagnostic test interpretation and its association with subsequent pulmonology referral by a primary care physician (PCP). METHODS:A retrospective cohort analysis of patients referred to the ILD programs at UC-Davis and University of Chicago by a PCP within each institution was performed. Computed tomography (CT) of the chest and abdomen and pulmonary function test (PFT) were reviewed to identify the date ILD features were first present and determine the time from diagnostic test to pulmonology referral. The association between ILD reporting on diagnostic test interpretation and pulmonology referral was assessed, as was the association between years of diagnostic delay and changes in fibrotic features on longitudinal chest CT. RESULTS:One hundred and forty-six patients were included in the final analysis. Prior to pulmonology referral, 66% (n = 97) of patients underwent chest CT, 15% (n = 21) underwent PFT and 15% (n = 21) underwent abdominal CT. ILD features were reported on 84, 62 and 33% of chest CT, PFT and abdominal CT interpretations, respectively. ILD reporting was associated with shorter time to pulmonology referral when undergoing chest CT (1.3 vs 15.1 months, respectively; p = 0.02), but not PFT or abdominal CT. ILD reporting was associated with increased likelihood of pulmonology referral within 6 months of diagnostic test when undergoing chest CT (rate ratio 2.17, 95% CI 1.03-4.56; p = 0.04), but not PFT or abdominal CT. Each year of diagnostic delay was associated with a 1.8% increase in percent fibrosis on chest CT. Patients with documented dyspnea had shorter time to chest CT acquisition and pulmonology referral than patients with documented cough and lung crackles. CONCLUSIONS:Determinants of ILD diagnostic delays in the primary care setting include underreporting of ILD features on diagnostic testing and prolonged time to pulmonology referral even when ILD is reported. Interventions to modulate these factors may reduce ILD diagnostic delays in the primary care setting

Recommendations for the use of endoscopic lung volume reduction in South Africa: Role in the treatment of emphysema

Emphysema is a very common cause of morbidity and mortality in South Africa (SA). Therapeutic options in severe emphysema are limited. Endoscopic lung volume reduction (ELVR) is increasingly being used internationally for the treatment of advanced emphysema in a subset of patients with advanced disease, aiming to obtain the same functional advantages as surgical lung volume reduction while reducing risks and costs. In addition to endobronchial valves, ELVR using endobronchial coils is now available in SA. The high cost of these interventions underscores the need for careful patient selection to best identify those who may or may not benefit from ELVR-related procedures. The Assembly on Interventional Pulmonology of the South African Thoracic Society appointed a committee comprising both local and international experts to extensively review all relevant evidence and provide advice on the use of ELVR in SA based on published evidence, expert opinion and local access to the various devices

Lipid-laden alveolar macrophages and pH monitoring in gastroesophageal reflux-related respiratory symptoms

Lipid-laden alveolar macrophages and pH monitoring have been used in the diagnosis of chronic aspiration in children with gastroesophageal reflux (GER). This study was conducted to prove a correlation between the detection of alimentary pulmonary fat phagocytosis and an increasing amount of proximal gastroesophageal reflux. It was assumed that proximal gastroesophageal reflux better correlates with aspiration than distal GER. Patients from 6 months to 16 years with unexplained recurrent wheezy bronchitis and bronchial hyperreactivity, or recurrent pneumonia with chronic cough underwent 24-hour double-channel pH monitoring and bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Aspiration of gastric content was determined by counting lipid laden alveolar macrophages from BAL specimens. There were no correlations between any pH-monitoring parameters and counts of lipid-laden macrophages in the whole study population, even when restricting analysis to those with abnormal reflux index expressing clinically significant GER. Quantifying lipid-laden alveolar macrophages from BAL in children with gastroesophageal-related respiratory disorders does not have an acceptable specificity to prove chronic aspiration as an underlying etiology. Therefore, research for other markers of pulmonary aspiration is needed

Bronchiolitis. Analysis of 10 consecutive epidemic seasons

Bronchiolitis is the leading cause of hospitalization in infants under 12 months. Our aims were to analyze epidemiological characteristics of infants with bronchiolitis over 10 consecutive seasons and to evaluate whether there are any clinical differences between infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis during epidemic peak months and infants in non-peak months. We enrolled consecutive enrolled 723 previously healthy term infants hospitalized at the Paediatric Emergency Department, "Sapienza" University of Rome over the period 2004-2014. Fourteen respiratory viruses were detected from nasopharyngeal aspirates by molecular methods. Clinical and demographic data were extracted from clinical charts. Viruses were detected in 351 infants (48.5%): RSV in 234 (32.4%), RV in 44 (6.1%), hBoV in 11 (1.5%), hMPV in 12 (1.6%), co-infections in 39 (5.4%), and other viruses in 11 (1.5%). Analyzing the 10 epidemic seasons, we found higher incidence for bronchiolitis every 4 years with a peak during the months December-January. Infants hospitalized during peak months had lower family history for asthma (P = 0.003), more smoking mothers during pregnancy (P = 0.036), were slightly higher breastfed (0.056), had lower number of blood eosinophils (P = 0.015) and had a higher clinical severity score (P = 0.017). RSV was detected mostly during peak months, while RV was equally distributed during the seasons. We found some variations in bronchiolitis incidence during epidemics, and discriminative characteristics in infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis during peak months and in non-peak months, that might reflect two different populations of children. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016; 9999:XX-XX. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Why Technology Provides Compelling Reasons to Apply a Daubert Analysis to the Legal Standard of Care in Medical Malpractice Cases

Traditionally, courts have applied a customary practice standard in determining the legal standard of care in medical malpractice cases. Recently, a few courts have abandoned this dated standard and instead applied a Daubert analysis to the standard of care, which focuses on medical evidence that is scientifically based . In light of these recent holdings, this iBrief argues that with the increasing amounts of technologies improving evidence-based medicine, the customary practice standard is no longer a useful or appropriate test for determining the standard of care in medical malpractice cases. By applying a Daubert analysis to an expert’s testimony on the standard of care, the testimony becomes a scientifically based testimony rather than an expert’s notion of what is common practice in the medical profession

Estimation of Reserves for Improving the Results of Patients with Multipresistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis in the Application of Surgical Methods Based on Analysis of the Efficiency of Conservative Treatment of a Specified Cohort

In order to improve the results of treatment of patients with multi-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis with the use of surgical methods, the effectiveness estimation of conservative treatment of 176 patients with this form of tuberculosis according to cohort analysis data in two districts of Kyiv were done.In the list were included following parameters: type of the tuberculosis, its clinical-radiological form and the prevalence of the process, the results of conservative treatment in patients who completely finished the course of anti-TB chemotherapy and the results of conservative treatment of 81 patients who had indications for surgical treatment but had not been operated. Processing of the materials of the study was carried out with the use of licensed software products included in the Microsoft Office Professional 2007 package. The predicted results of treatment were calculated on the condition of surgical intervention.Out of the total sample of patients, 31.3 % of the patients completed treatment. Mortality was 16.5 %, transferred to palliative care 11.9 %. More than one in three patients (35.2 %) stopped treatment at different times from the start.According to the clinic of thoracic surgery SU "National Institute of Phthisiology and Pulmonology named after F.G. Yanovsky NAMS of Ukraine ", the overall effectiveness of treatment for patients with limited multidrug-resistant tuberculosis with the use of surgical intervention is about 95 % in the absence of mortality. We have modelled the potential results of treatment of the selected cohort in case of the surgical stage is fully and timely applied in a complex of therapeutic treatment. If all 81 patients with indications for surgical treatment used that way, then, with the above efficiency, a complete cure could be predicted in 77 patients (44.5 % of the total number of observations), which in turn would allow predicting the achievement completion of treatment at 64.2 % with complete cure for 60.6 % of patients.Thus, it is established that the positive result of surgical treatment in the general complex of treatment measures in patients with multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis is able to improve the results of treatment of this contingent more than twice, reduce the mortality almost by three times, reduce the need for repeated courses of treatment from 7.4 % to 1.7 %, as well as to reduce the epidemiological reservoir of infection due to a significant decrease in the number of patients with failure to treat tuberculosis, interrupted and palliative treatment

Risk Factor Analysis for 30-Day Readmission Rates of Newly Tracheostomized Children

Objectives: Pediatric patients undergo tracheostomy for a variety of reasons; however, medical complexity is common among these patients. Although tracheostomy may help to facilitate discharge, these patients may be at increased risk for hospital readmission. The purpose of this study was to evaluate our institutional rate of 30-day readmission for patients discharged with new tracheostomies and to identify risk factors associated with readmission. Study Design: A retrospective cohort study was conducted for all pediatric patients ages 0-18 years with new tracheostomies at our institution over a 36-month period. Methods: A chart review was performed for all newly tracheostomizedchildren from 2013 to 2016. We investigated documented readmissions within 30 days of discharge, reasons for readmission, demographic variables including age and ethnicity, initial discharge disposition, co-morbidities, and socioeconomic status estimated by mean household income by parental zip code. Results: 45 patients were discharged during the study time period. A total of 13 (28.9%) required readmission within 30 days of discharge. Among these 13 patients, the majority (61.5%) were readmitted for lower airway concerns, many (30.8%) were admitted for reasons unrelated to tracheostomy or respiratory concerns, and only one patient (7.7%) was readmitted for a reason related to tracheostomy itself (tracheostomalbreakdown). Age, ethnicity, discharge disposition, co-morbidities, and socioeconomic status were not associated with differences in readmission rates. Patients readmitted within 30 days had a higher number of admissions within the first year. Conclusion: Pediatric patients with new tracheostomies are at high risk for readmission after discharge from initial hospitalization. The readmissions are most likely secondary to underlying medical complexity rather than issues related specifically to the tracheostomy procedure.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/patientsafetyposters/1046/thumbnail.jp

Evaluation of Functional Condition of Respiratory Muscles of Patients with a Complicated Bronchial Asthma Pathology and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases

The aim of the research was to study the functional state of respiratory muscles and neuro-respiratory drive in patients with a combined pathology of bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.The functional condition of the respiratory muscles and the tone of the respiratory centre were determined with the help of a device for occlusion spirometry. Also, the patient was observed with a spirometry, a general plethysmography of the body.Materials and methods.140 patients with combined broncho-obstructive pathology, 34 patients with asthma and 17 patients with COPD were examined. Spirometry, general plethysmography of the body and occlusion spirometry were provided for all patients.Results show a decrease in muscle strength of breath in all categories of patients with broncho-obstructive diseases, especially expressed in patients with bronchial asthma and asthma-COPD intersection. The muscle strength of breath was maintained with a significant increase in COPD patients compared with those with bronchial asthma. With increasing broncho-obstruction in patients with asthma-COPD intersection, there was a progressive and reliable decrease in muscle strength for breath and expiration, as well as a tendency to increase neuron respiratory drive. In patients with asthma-COPD intersection with more expressed symptoms revealed a significant and reliable weakening of muscle strength for breath and increased neuro-respiratory drive. During the work were obtained reliable links of the parameters of respiratory muscle strength not only with the parameters of pulmonary volume and bronchial patency, but also with the degree of neutrophilic inflammation in this category of patients.Conclusions The obtained data on failure of the functional state of the respiratory muscles and the neuro-respiratory drive can be used in the development of rehabilitation programs for the management of patients with combined broncho-obstructive pathology

The Portuguese Severe Asthma Registry: Development, Features, and Data Sharing Policies

The Portuguese Severe Asthma Registry (Registo de Asma Grave Portugal, RAG) was developed by an open collaborative network of asthma specialists. RAG collects data from adults and pediatric severe asthma patients that despite treatment optimization and adequate management of comorbidities require step 4/5 treatment according to GINA recommendations. In this paper, we describe the development and implementation of RAG, its features, and data sharing policies. The contents and structure of RAG were defined in a multistep consensus process. A pilot version was pretested and iteratively improved. The selection of data elements for RAG considered other severe asthma registries, aiming at characterizing the patient's clinical status whilst avoiding overloading the standard workflow of the clinical appointment. Features of RAG include automatic assessment of eligibility, easy data input, and exportable data in natural language that can be pasted directly in patients' electronic health record and security features to enable data sharing (among researchers and with other international databases) without compromising patients' confidentiality. RAG is a national web-based disease registry of severe asthma patients, available at asmagrave.pt. It allows prospective clinical data collection, promotes standardized care and collaborative clinical research, and may contribute to inform evidence-based healthcare policies for severe asthma.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio