Acute ST segment elevation during exercise stress echocardiography due to severe pulmonary hypertension

A 51-year-old female undergoing an outpatient stress echocardiogram to evaluate atypical chest pain developed acute ST elevation in the anterior precordial leads on electrocardiogram following exercise. Echocardiography revealed a severe rise in pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) with marked right ventricular (RV) enlargement and interventricular septum flattening. Subsequently, cardiac catherization confirmed an exercise-induced elevation in PASP and diagnosed pulmonary arterial hypertension without evidence of coronary artery disease. This case suggests that an acute elevation in pulmonary artery pressure with RV dilation may be a potential cause of acute ST elevation during stress testing

Comparative study on health care utilization and hospital outcomes of severe acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease managed by pulmonologists vs internists

Chaicharn Pothirat, Chalerm Liwsrisakun, Chaiwat Bumroongkit, Athavudh Deesomchok, Theerakorn Theerakittikul, Atikun Limsukon Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand Background: Care for many chronic health conditions is delivered by both specialists and generalists. Differences in patients’ quality of care and management between generalists and specialists have been well documented for asthma, whereas a few studies for COPD reported no differences. Objective: The objective of this study is to compare consistency with Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines, as well as rate, health care utilization, and hospital outcomes of severe acute exacerbation (AE) of COPD patients managed by pulmonologists and internists. Materials and methods: This is a 12-month prospective, comparative observational study among 208 COPD patients who were regularly managed by pulmonologists (Group A) and internists (Group B). Clinical data, health care utilization, and hospital outcomes of the two groups were statistically compared. Results: Out of 208 enrolled patients, 137 (Group A) and 71 (Group B) were managed by pulmonologists and internists, respectively. Pharmacological treatment corresponding to disease severity stages between the two groups was not statistically different. Group A received care consistent with guidelines in terms of annual influenza vaccination (31.4% vs 9.9%, P<0.001) and pulmonary rehabilitation (24.1% vs 0%, P<0.001) greater than Group B. Group A had reduced rates (12.4% vs 23.9%, P=0.033) and numbers of severe AE (0.20±0.63 person-years vs 0.41±0.80 person-years, P=0.029). Among patients with severe AE requiring mechanical ventilation, Group A had reduced mechanical ventilator duration (1.5 [1–7] days vs 5 [3–29] days, P=0.005), hospital length of stay (3.5 [1–20] days vs 16 [6–29] days, P=0.012), and total hospital cost (863 [247–2,496] vs 2,095 [763–6,792], P=0.049) as compared with Group B. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that pulmonologists followed national COPD guidelines more closely than internists. The rates and frequencies of severe AE were significantly lower in patients managed by pulmonologists, and length of hospital stay and cost were significantly lower among the patients with severe AE who required mechanical ventilation. Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, guidelines, specialization, managemen

Long-term efficacy of intensive cycle ergometer exercise training program for advanced COPD patients

Chaicharn Pothirat, Warawut Chaiwong, Nittaya Phetsuk, Chalerm Liwsrisakun, Chaiwat Bumroongkit, Athavudh Deesomchok, Theerakorn Theerakittikul, Atikun Limsukon Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand Background: Exercise training has been incorporated into the international guidelines for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the long-term efficacy of the training program for patients with advanced COPD has never been evaluated in Thailand. Purpose: To determine the long-term efficacy of intensive cycle ergometer exercise program on various clinical parameters of patients with advanced COPD. Materials and methods: The patients with advanced COPD were separated into two groups: the intensive ergometer exercise program group and the control group. The clinical parameters of all the patients were assessed at baseline, every month for the first 3 months, and then every 3 months until they had completed the 24-month follow-up. Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare baseline mean differences between the groups. Repeated measure analysis was applied to determine the progress in all parameters during the entire follow-up period. Mean incase imputation method was applied to estimate the parameters of dropout cases. Results: A total of 41 patients were enrolled: 27 in the intensive ergometer exercise program group and 14 in the control group. The intensive cycle ergometer exercise program group showed statistically significant improvements in muscle strength (from month 1 till the end of the study, month 24), endurance time (from month 1 till the end of measurement, month 12) and clinically significant improvements in 6-minute walk distance (from month 2 until month 9), dyspnea severity by transitional dyspnea index (from month 1 till the end of the study, month 24), and quality of life (from month 1 till the end of the study, month 24). There was no significant difference in survival rates between the groups. Conclusion: The intensive ergometer exercise training program revealed meaningful long-term improvements in various clinical parameters for up to 2 years. These promising results should encourage health care professionals to promote exercise training for patients with advanced COPD who have limited daily activities despite optimal medication control. Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary rehabilitation, ergometer training, physical endurance, strength trainin

Dialectal influence on chronic pulmonary disease assessment test: the reliability and validity study

Chaicharn Pothirat, Warawut Chaiwong, Nittaya Phetsuk, Chalerm Liwsrisakun, Chaiwat Bumroongkit, Athavudh Deesomchok, Theerakorn Theerakittikul, Atikun Limsukon Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients living in many countries are familiar with local dialects rather than the official language. We, therefore, compare the reliability and validity of the COPD assessment test (CAT) in Thai and northern Thai dialect versions, in stable COPD patients living in the northern part of Thailand.Methods: A total of 160 COPD patients were randomly selected for the evaluation of each dialect version of CAT (n=80). The internal consistency of all eight items and test–retest reliability were investigated by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICCC), respectively. The validity was evaluated by the degree of correlation with St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) using Pearson’s correlation. The correlations of CAT with clinical parameters such as forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), modified Medical Research Council scale (mMRC) dyspnea score, and 6-minute walk distance (6-MWD) were also evaluated.Results: The two versions of CAT showed high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.82 and 0.76) as well as a high test–retest reliability (ICCC of 0.82 and 0.84) for Thai and northern Thai dialect versions, respectively. The test results revealed that the northern Thai dialect version had good correlation with SGRQ whereas the Thai version correlated only moderately.Conclusion: The two Thai versions of CAT were proven to be good clinical tools with high reliability and acceptable validity for assessing the quality of life of Thai COPD patients. However, the northern Thai dialect version is more suitable for evaluating COPD patients living in the northern part of Thailand. Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD assessment test, quality of life, validation, reliabilit

Detection of acute deterioration in health status visit among COPD patients by monitoring COPD assessment test score

Chaicharn Pothirat, Warawut Chaiwong, Atikun Limsukon, Athavudh Deesomchok, Chalerm Liwsrisakun, Chaiwat Bumroongkit, Theerakorn Theerakittikul, Nittaya PhetsukDivision of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, ThailandBackground: The Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test (CAT) could play a role in detecting acute deterioration in health status during monitoring visits in routine clinical practice.Objective: To evaluate the discriminative property of a change in CAT score from a stable baseline visit for detecting acute deterioration in health status visits of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.Methods: The CAT questionnaire was administered to stable COPD patients routinely attending the chest clinic of Chiang Mai University Hospital who were monitored using the CAT score every 1–3 months for 15 months. Acute deterioration in health status was defined as worsening or exacerbation. CAT scores at baseline, and subsequent visits with acute deterioration in health status were analyzed using the t-test. The receiver operating characteristic curve was performed to evaluate the discriminative property of change in CAT score for detecting acute deterioration during a health status visit.Results: A total of 354 follow-up visits were made by 140 patients, aged 71.1±8.4 years, with a forced expiratory volume in 1 second of 47.49%±18.2% predicted, who were monitored for 15 months. The mean CAT score change between stable baseline visits, by patients’ and physicians’ global assessments, were 0.05 (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.37–0.46) and 0.18 (95% CI, -0.23–0.60), respectively. At worsening visits, as assessed by patients, there was significant increase in CAT score (6.07; 95% CI, 4.95–7.19). There were also significant increases in CAT scores at visits with mild and moderate exacerbation (5.51 [95% CI, 4.39–6.63] and 8.84 [95% CI, 6.29–11.39], respectively), as assessed by physicians. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of CAT score change for the detection of acute deterioration in health status was 0.89 (95% CI, 0.84–0.94), and the optimum cut-off point score was at 4, with a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 76.8%, 83.6%, and 82.4%, respectively.Conclusions: Change in CAT score during monitoring visits is useful for detecting acute deterioration in health status, and a change of 4 units could make a moderate prediction of acute deterioration in health status.Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, health status, questionnair

Peak expiratory flow rate as a surrogate for forced expiratory volume in 1 second in COPD severity classification in Thailand

Chaicharn Pothirat, Warawut Chaiwong, Nittaya Phetsuk, Chalerm Liwsrisakun, Chaiwat Bumroongkit, Athavudh Deesomchok, Theerakorn Theerakittikul, Atikun Limsukon Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand Background: There are limited studies directly comparing correlation and agreement between peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) for severity classification of COPD. However, clarifying the role of PEFR as a surrogate of COPD severity classification instead of FEV1 is essential in situations and areas where spirometry is not routinely available.Purpose: To evaluate the agreement between FEV1 and PEFR using Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) severity classification criteria.Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study included stable COPD patients. Both absolute values and % predicted FEV1 and % predicted PEFR were obtained from the same patients at a single visit. The severity of COPD was classified according to GOLD criteria. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between FEV1 and PEFR. The agreement of % predicted FEV1 and % predicted PEFR in assigning severity categories was calculated using Kappa statistic, and identification of the limits of agreement was by Bland–Altman analysis. Statistical significance was set at P-value <0.05.Results: Three hundred stable COPD patients were enrolled; 195 (65.0%) male, mean age 70.4±9.4 years, and mean % predicted FEV1 51.4±20.1. Both correlations between the % predicted FEV1 and PEFR as well as the absolute values were strongly significant (r=0.76, P<0.001 and r=0.87, P<0.001, respectively). However, severity categories of airflow limitation based on % predicted FEV1 or PEFR intervals were concordant in only 179 patients (59.7%). The Kappa statistic for agreement was 0.41 (95% confidence interval, 0.34–0.48), suggesting unsatisfied agreement. The calculated limits of agreement were wide (+27.1% to -28.9%).Conclusion: Although the correlation between FEV1 and PEFR measurements were strongly significant, the agreement between the two tests was unsatisfied and may influence inappropriate clinical decision making in diagnosis, severity classification, and management of COPD. Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, spirometry, agreemen