Pulmonary Manifestations of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Peer Reviewe

Mediastinal Staging for Lung Cancer

Staging of the mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes plays a crucial role in identifying the best treatment option for patients with confirmed or suspected lung cancer and, in many cases, can simultaneously confirm a diagnosis of cancer. Noninvasive modalities, such as computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET) and PET-CT, are an important first step in this assessment. Ultimately, invasive staging is frequently required to confirm or rule out the presence of metastatic disease within the lymph nodes. The present focused review describes and compares noninvasive and invasive modalities for mediastinal staging in lung cancer

Mediastinal Staging for Lung Cancer

Staging of the mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes plays a crucial role in identifying the best treatment option for patients with confirmed or suspected lung cancer and, in many cases, can simultaneously confirm a diagnosis of cancer. Noninvasive modalities, such as computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET) and PET-CT, are an important first step in this assessment. Ultimately, invasive staging is frequently required to confirm or rule out the presence of metastatic disease within the lymph nodes. The present focused review describes and compares noninvasive and invasive modalities for mediastinal staging in lung cancer.Peer Reviewe

Improving Survival and Neurological Function for Younger Age Groups After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Sweden: A 20-Year Comparison.

To describe changes in the epidemiology of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Sweden with the emphasis on the younger age groups

Evaluation of a Novel Method of Teaching Endobronchial Ultrasound: Physician- Versus Respiratory Therapist-Proctored Simulation Training

BACKGROUND: Computer endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) simulators have been demonstrated to improve trainee procedural skills before attempting to perform EBUS procedures on patients.OBJECTIVE: To compare EBUS performance following training with computer simulation proctored by EBUS-trained respiratory therapists versus the same simulation training proctored by an interventional respirologist.METHODS: The present analysis was a prospective study of respiratory medicine trainees learning EBUS. Two cohorts of trainees were evaluated using a previously validated method using simulated cases with performance metrics measured by the simulator. Group 1 underwent EBUS training by performing 15 procedures on an EBUS simulator (n=4) proctored by an interventional respirologist. Group 2 received identical training proctored by a respiratory therapist with special training in EBUS (n=10).RESULTS: No significant differences between group 1 and group 2 were apparent for the primary outcome measures of total procedure time (15.15±1.34 min versus 14.78±2.88 min; P=0.816), the percentage of lymph nodes successfully identified (88.8±5.4 versus 80.91±8.9; P=0.092) or the percentage of successful biopsies (100.0±0.0 versus 98.75±3.95; P=0.549). The learning curves were similar between groups, and did not show an obvious plateau after 19 simulated procedures in either group.DISCUSSION: Acquisition of basic EBUS technical skills can be achieved using computer EBUS simulation proctored by specially trained respiratory therapists or by an interventional respirologist. There appeared to be no significant advantage to having an interventional respirologist proctor the computer EBUS simulation.Peer Reviewe

Evaluation of a Novel Method of Teaching Endobronchial Ultrasound: Physician- Versus Respiratory Therapist-Proctored Simulation Training

BACKGROUND: Computer endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) simulators have been demonstrated to improve trainee procedural skills before attempting to perform EBUS procedures on patients