Active smoking is associated with elevated thrombotic risk. Smoking status has recently been incorporated into the SAMe-TT2R2 (sex female, age < 60 years, medical history [more than two comorbidities], treatment [interacting drugs, eg, amiodarone for rhythm control], tobacco use [doubled], race [doubled]) score that can help predict poor international normalized ratio control in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs). The clinical benefit of antiplatelet therapy (APT) has been seen primarily in smokers. We hypothesized that active smoking may differently influence the risks of stroke and bleeding in patients with AF treated with VKAs or with APT.

Warfarin is a widely prescribed anticoagulant, and its effect depends on various patient factors including genotypes. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing genotype-guided dosing (GD) of warfarin with standard dosing have shown mixed efficacy and safety outcomes. We performed a meta-analysis of all published RCTs comparing GD vs standard dosing in adult patients with various indications of warfarin use.

Adenotonsillectomy (AT) is commonly performed for childhood OSA syndrome (OSAS), but little is known about prognosis without treatment.

Patient satisfaction is an important factor for consideration in pulmonary practice management. Although evidence regarding the correlation of patient satisfaction with care quality remains mixed, there is an increasing national emphasis on the importance of patient experience in physician reimbursement, credentialing, and public opinion. The introduction of the Affordable Care Act and value-based care purchasing has tied a portion of reimbursement to patient experience surveys and other metrics related to care quality rather than quantity. Through nationally recognized assessments such as the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys and easily accessible websites such as RateMD and Yelp, patient opinion of care quality is more widely available and more important to pulmonary practice than ever before. Physician credentialing may also be impacted by the American Board of Internal Medicine's Maintenance of Certification program and potential future requirements for physicians to assess the patient experience to maintain certification. In the continually evolving health-care delivery, credentialing, and reimbursement climate, a thorough understanding of the increasing importance of patient satisfaction as well as strategies for successfully approaching this issue are essential to modern pulmonary inpatient and outpatient practice management.

Acute exacerbation (AE) of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) presents as episodes of acute respiratory worsening closely associated with endothelial damage and disordered coagulopathy. Recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin (rhTM) regulates the coagulation pathway mainly by reducing thrombin-mediated clotting and enhancing protein C activation. We investigated the efficacy of rhTM for the treatment of patients with AE-IPF.

Renal dysfunction is common in patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD); it takes on many forms from acute to chronic renal injury and may involve a variety of mechanisms. Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a specific type of hepatorenal disorder (HRD) with a unique pathophysiology. HRS is characterized by splanchnic arterial vasodilatation and decreased effective intravascular volume that leads to renal vasoconstriction and decreased renal blood flow. The incidence of HRS in relation to other forms of HRD is unknown; however, it is estimated that 35% to 40% patients with ESLD and ascites eventually develop the condition. Two subtypes of HRS have been described. Type 1 HRS is rapidly progressive, whereas the renal function in type 2 HRS deteriorates slowly over weeks or months. Type 1 HRS may be precipitated by sepsis or acute alcoholic hepatitis and occasionally develops in patients who already have type 2 HRS. The diagnosis of HRS is based on the exclusion of other causes of renal dysfunction because no specific test is available. The definitive treatment of HRS is liver transplant. As a bridge to liver transplant, medical management with volume expansion and the use of vasoconstrictors is often implemented. A transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt has been attempted in treating HRS, although there is little evidence of its efficacy compared with standard therapy. Renal replacement therapy is often used if the patient is a liver transplant candidate. Artificial liver assist devices are in the research phase.

A significant minority of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) display features of autoimmunity without meeting the criteria for overt connective tissue disease. A link between IPF and other immune-mediated processes, such as hypothyroidism (HT), has not been reported. In this investigation, we aimed to determine whether HT is associated with IPF and if outcomes differ between patients with IPF with and without HT.

The knowledge of airway anatomy is the most fundamental requirement of every bronchoscopist. There are numerous and frequent anatomic variations of the central airways making the examination unique for every individual. It is imperative for every bronchoscopist to be fully cognizant of the common congenital anomalies involving the central airways. Proper identification and reporting of these findings are a matter of the utmost importance, especially when surgical options in a patient with lung cancer or lung transplantation is under consideration. This article focuses on the congenital anomalies of central airway encountered among adults. Each of these anatomic variations has a characteristic appearance, yet requires bronchoscopic acumen for their identification. This review provides a comprehensive description of these anomalies and highlights their clinical implications.

Gastrectomy is known as one of the risk factors for TB. However, there is no study about the association between TB development and gastrectomy performed in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). This study evaluated conventional risk factors, including gastrectomy, associated with TB development in patients with EGC.

Low levels of physical activity (PA) are associated with poor outcomes in people with COPD. Interventions to increase PA could improve outcomes.

The optimal concentration of lignocaine to be used during flexible bronchoscopy (FB) remains unknown. This randomized controlled trial compared the efficacy and safety of 1% and 2% lignocaine solution for topical anesthesia during FB.

Approximately 8% of the world population resides above 1,600 m, with about 10 million people living above 2,500 m in Colombia. However, reference values for polysomnography (PSG) and oxygen saturation (Spo2) of children < 2 years old residing at high altitude are currently unavailable.

COPD guidelines recommend the combined use of inhaled long-acting β2-agonists (LABAs) and long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMAs) if symptoms are not improved by a single agent. This systematic review tested the hypothesis that the bronchodilator effect of the LABA/LAMA combination, umeclidinium (UMEC)/vilanterol (VIL), would translate into better outcomes without incurring increased adverse events (AEs).

Respiratory virus infections are commonly associated with COPD exacerbations, but little is known about the mechanisms linking virus infection to exacerbations. Pathogenic mechanisms in stable COPD include oxidative and nitrosative stress and reduced activity of histone deacetylase-2 (HDAC2), but their roles in COPD exacerbations is unknown. We investigated oxidative and nitrosative stress (O&NS) and HDAC2 in COPD exacerbations using experimental rhinovirus infection.

As lung cancer screening with low-dose CT scanning is implemented, an increasing number of people will be diagnosed with pulmonary nodules. Primary care clinicians care for the vast majority of these patients, but their experiences with communication and managing distress in this population are not well understood.

Selecting a strategy (surveillance, biopsy, resection) for pulmonary nodule evaluation can be complex given the absence of high-quality data comparing strategies and the important tradeoffs among strategies. Guidelines recommend a three-step approach: (1) assess the likelihood of malignancy, (2) evaluate whether the patient is a candidate for invasive intervention, and (3) elicit the patient's preferences and engage in shared decision-making. We sought to characterize how pulmonologists select a pulmonary nodule evaluation strategy and the extent to which they report following the guideline-recommended approach.

There are currently &gt; 230 million people in the world with asthma, and asthma attacks result in the hospitalization of someone every 7 min. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute outlines four components of clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma, which tend to take a biomedical focus: (1) measures of assessment and monitoring, obtained by objective tests, physical examination, patient history, and patient report, to diagnose and assess the characteristics and severity of asthma and to monitor whether asthma control is achieved and maintained; (2) education for a partnership in asthma care; (3) control of environmental factors and comorbid conditions that affect asthma; and (4) pharmacologic therapy. Many national guidelines include providing patients with asthma with (1) written action plans, (2) inhaler technique training, and (3) structured annual reviews. Although current guidelines help improve clinical processes of care for asthma, there is also a need to improve self-care of asthma by empowering individuals to take more control of their condition. There is a growing appreciation that a narrative approach with patients with asthma, which focuses on the illness experience and aims to enhance patient-clinician understanding, might improve self-care. We explore how a framework for clinicians to listen to patients' stories, developed from research on individuals with asthma, might enhance communication, improve patient-clinician relationship, and foster better patient self-care. The article closes with the implications of this approach for clinical practice and future research.

Systematic assessment of severe asthma can be used to confirm the diagnosis, identify comorbidities, and address adherence to therapy. However, the prospective usefulness of this approach is yet to be established. The objective of this study was to determine whether the systematic assessment of severe asthma is associated with improved quality of life (QoL) and health-care use and, using prospective data collection, to compare relevant outcomes in patients referred with severe asthma to specialist centers across the United Kingdom.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a temporary technique for providing life support for cardiac dysfunction, pulmonary dysfunction, or both. The two forms of ECMO, veno-arterial (VA) and veno-venous (VV), are used to support cardiopulmonary and pulmonary dysfunction, respectively. Historically, ECMO was predominantly used in the neonatal and pediatric populations, as early adult studies failed to improve outcomes. ECMO has become far more common in the adult population because of positive results in published case series and clinical trials during the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic in 2009 to 2010. Advances in technology that make the technique much easier to implement likely fueled the renewed interest. Although exact criteria for ECMO are not available, patients who are good candidates are generally considered to be relatively young and suffering from acute illness that is believed to be reversible or organ dysfunction that is otherwise treatable. With the increase in the use in the adult population, a number of different codes have been generated to better identify the method of support with distinctly different relative value units assigned to each code from a very simple prior coding scheme. To effectively be reimbursed for use of the technique, it is imperative that the clinician understands the new coding scheme and works with payers to determine what is incorporated into each specific code.

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a manifestation of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) that causes destruction of the lung and chronic respiratory failure. Population-based estimates of demographics, clinical outcomes, and health-care utilization are lacking for TSC and LAM.