Articles related to RESPIRATORY HEALTH

In a recent single-center prospective cohort study, the effect of unsuccessful treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) on mortality rates in patients with severe pneumonia was evaluated. The study involved 585 mechanically ventilated patients with severe pneumonia and respiratory failure, including 190 with severe COVID-19, all of whom underwent at least one bronchoalveolar lavage. A novel machine learning approach, CarpeDiem, was employed to group similar ICU patient-days into clinical states based on electronic health record data. Findings indicated that the lengthy ICU stays experienced by COVID-19 patients were largely due to prolonged periods of respiratory failure. The study discovered that although VAP wasn’t a contributing factor to mortality rates overall, patients with a single episode of unsuccessfully treated VAP demonstrated a significantly higher mortality rate (76.4%) compared to those with successfully treated VAP (17.6%). Furthermore, the CarpeDiem model highlighted that unresolved VAP was linked with transitions to clinical states associated with increased mortality. The study underscores that unsuccessful treatment of VAP is correlated with higher mortality and that patients with COVID-19 are at an elevated risk of VAP due to prolonged respiratory failure.

In a study of nearly 100,000 individuals aged 30 to 95 without any prior evidence of CVD, decline in peak metabolic equivalent of task score (METS) of greater than 1.0 was inversely proportionate to changes in mortality risk. METS were determined using symptom-limited exercise treadmill tests.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial including people with COPD and chronic breathlessness was conducted at 20 Australian medical centers. One-hundred sixty participants were randomized to oral extended-release morphine versus placebo. The change in the intensity of worst breathlessness at week 1 was not significantly different between the morphine group and the placebo group.

Although the panel voted 16:1 for the new budesonide + albuterol inhaler in adults, they said the data does not support use in children and they were split on use in adolescents over the age of 12.

Anakinra (Kineret, Sobi) currently approved for rheumatoid arthritis and some rare disorders, was granted an emergency use authorization for a subgroup of COVID-hospitalized patients who are at risk of severe respiratory failure.

An observational analysis reviewed 54 studies and two medical record databases with data for 1.2 million individuals, to determine how many people experienced at least 1 of the 3 self-reported Long COVID symptom clusters 3 months after infection. The results indicate a Long COVID rate of 6.2%: 3.7% for ongoing respiratory problems, 3.2% for persistent fatigue with bodily pain or mood swings, and 2.2% for cognitive problems.