This article provides an update on progress toward establishing pulmonary and critical care medicine (PCCM) fellowship training as one of the first four subspecialties to be recognized and supported ...by the Chinese government. Designed and implemented throughout 2013 and 2014 by a collaborative effort of the Chinese Thoracic Society (CTS) and the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), 12 leading Chinese hospitals enrolled a total of 64 fellows into standardized PCCM training programs with common curricula, educational activities, and assessment measures. Supplemental educational materials, online assessment tools, and institutional site visits designed to evaluate and provide feedback on the programs’ progress are being provided by CHEST. As a result of this initial progress, the Chinese government, through the Chinese Medical Doctor’s Association, endorsed the concept of subspecialty fellowship training in China, with PCCM as one of the four pilot subspecialties to be operationalized nationwide in 2016, followed by implementation across other subspecialties by 2020. This article also reflects on the achievements of the training sites and the challenges they face and outlines plans to enhance and expand PCCM training and practice in China.
This commentary heralds the recognition in China of a new subspecialty, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and the first national fellowship training pathway in any medical specialty. Because of ...striking environmental health-care similarities that existed in the United States, the Chinese medical community decided to model the specialty after that in the United States. Because of its expertise in educating pulmonary and critical care physicians in the United States, the American College of Chest Physicians was chosen by the Chinese Thoracic Society, with the approval of the Chinese government, to help with the transformation of this new specialty. A work group representing the two societies is collaborating to reorganize ICUs within a select group of large teaching hospitals in China and to introduce standardized and rigorous training in pulmonary and critical care medicine as a national program.
Abstract Purpose The aim of the study was to identify characteristic clinical features and outcomes of critically ill patients with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Materials and ...Methods This retrospective study enrolled all patients admitted to a 12-bed SARS intensive care unit (ICU) in a tertiary care medical center in Taipei between May 15 and July 17, 2003. Patients with positive results of either reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction or antibody to SARS coronavirus were defined as SARS cases and others with negative results as control cases. Results Of the 50 patients, 14 had confirmed SARS. Demographics were similar between the 2 groups. The highest leukocyte and neutrophil counts, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine kinase; positive end-expiratory pressure; and use of corticosteroids, ribavirin, and intravenous immunoglobulin were higher in the SARS group. In contrast, the lowest lymphocyte count and the ratio of Pa o2 to the fraction of inspired oxygen were lower in the SARS group. Of the 15 deaths in the control group, 12 (80%) occurred during the first 2 weeks after ICU admission. However, in the confirmed SARS group, 5 (55.6%) of the 9 deaths occurred within the third or fourth week. This difference in timing between these 2 groups was significant ( P = .004). Conclusions In a SARS ICU, patients with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS had significantly different clinical features and timing of mortality from those of the control group.
Background Since 2008, severe cases of emerging human adenovirus (HAdV) type 55 (HAdV-55) were reported sporadically in China. But no comparative studies had been conducted to discern the differences ...in epidemiologic and clinical abnormalities between HAdV-55 and other types (HAdV-7, HAdV-3, HAdV-14, HAdV-50, and HAdV-C). Methods A multicenter surveillance study for adult and adolescent community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was conducted prospectively in Beijing and Yan Tai between November 2010 and April 2012. A standardized data form was used to record clinical information. The viral DNA extracted from the clinical samples or adenovirus viral isolates was sequenced. Results Among 969 cases, 48 (5%) were identified as adenovirus pneumonia. Six branches were clustered: HAdV-55 in 21, HAdV-7 in 11, HAdV-3 in nine, HAdV-14 in four, HAdV-50 in two, and HAdV-C in one. Most HAdV-55 cases were identified during February and March. All the hypervariable regions of the hexon genes of the 21 HAdV-55 strains were completely identical. Patients who had HAdV-55 were about 10 years older ( P = .027) and had higher pneumonia severity index scores ( P = .030) compared with those with other types (HAdV-7, HAdV-3, HAdV-14, HAdV-50, and HAdV-C). Systemic BP was also higher among patients in the HAdV-55 group ( P = .006). Unilateral or bilateral consolidations were the most common radiologic findings in both patients with HAdV-55 and those with other types (57.9% vs 36%). More than one-half of the patients were admitted to hospital; oxygen therapy was given to 29.2% of the 48 patients, and two needed mechanical ventilation. Conclusions HAdV-55 has established itself as a major pneumonia pathogen in the Chinese population, and further surveillance and monitoring of this agent as a cause of CAP is warranted.
Background Roflumilast is the only oral phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor indicated for use in the treatment of COPD. Previous studies of roflumilast have predominantly involved European and North ...American populations. A large study was necessary to determine the efficacy and safety of roflumilast in a predominantly ethnic Chinese population. Methods In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group, multicenter, phase 3 study, patients of Chinese, Malay, and Indian ethnicity (N = 626) with severe to very severe COPD were randomized 1:1 to receive either roflumilast 500 μg once daily or placebo for 24 weeks. The primary end point was change in prebronchodilator FEV1 from baseline to study end. Results Three hundred thirteen patients were assigned to each treatment. Roflumilast provided a sustained increase over placebo in mean prebronchodilator FEV1 (0.071 L; 95% CI, 0.046, 0.095 L; P < .0001). Similar improvements were observed in the secondary end points of postbronchodilator FEV1 (0.068 L; 95% CI 0.044, 0.092 L; P < .0001) and prebronchodilator and postbronchodilator FVC (0.109 L; 95% CI, 0.061, 0.157 L; P < .0001 and 0.101 L; 95% CI, 0.055, 0.146 L; P < .0001, respectively). The adverse event profile was consistent with previous roflumilast studies. The most frequently reported treatment-related adverse event was diarrhea (6.0% and 1.0% of patients in the roflumilast and placebo groups, respectively). Conclusions Roflumilast plays an important role in lung function improvement and is well tolerated in an Asian population. It provides an optimal treatment choice for patients with severe to very severe COPD. Trial registry ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT01313494; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov.
Respiratory Medicine in China Wang, Chen, MD, PhD, FCCP; Xiao, Fei, MD, PhD; Qiao, Renli, MD, PhD, FCCP ...
Chest,
06/2013, Volume:
143, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The past century witnessed a rapid development of respiratory medicine in China. The major burden of respiratory disease has shifted from infectious diseases to chronic noninfectious diseases. Great ...achievements have been made in improving the national standard of clinical management of various respiratory diseases and in smoking control. The specialty of respiratory medicine is expanding into pulmonary and critical care medicine. Nevertheless, respiratory diseases remain a major public health problem, with new challenges such as air pollution and nosocomial infections. This review describes the history, accomplishments, new challenges, and opportunities in respiratory medicine in China.
Background The mutations in oncogenic genes, such as EGFR , ALK , BRAF , HER2 , DDR2 , RET , and AKT1 , defined subsets of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) with potential sensitivity to targeted ...therapies. At present, the mutational spectrum, prevalence, and clinicopathologic characteristics in squamous cell carcinomas with minor (< 10%) glandular component (SQCC-mGCs) are not well established. Methods Three hundred ten surgically resected lung squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC) specimens were collected. The histology of all cases was reevaluated using hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemistry staining. EGFR , KRAS , HER2 , BRAF , PIK3CA , AKT1 , and DDR2 mutations, as well as ALK and RET rearrangements, were examined in 310 SQCCs by directed sequencing. Results Ninety-five SQCC-mGCs (30.6%) and 215 pure SQCCs (69.4%) were identified. Of the 95 SQCC-mGCs, 26 (27.4%; 95% CI, 18.7%-37.4%) were found to harbor known oncogenic mutations, including 10 with EGFR , seven with KRAS , three with PIK3CA , one with BRAF , one with HER2 , one each with EGFR/PIK3CA and KRAS/PIK3CA double mutations, and two with EML4-ALK fusions. Ten of 215 pure SQCCs (4.7%; 95% CI, 2.3%-8.4%) harbored mutations, including seven with PIK3CA , and each with AKT1 , DDR2, and EGFR . No RET rearrangements were detected in SQCCs. SQCC-mGCs had a significantly higher rate of mutations in known oncogenic genes than that in pure SQCCs (27.4% vs 4.7%, P < .001). All KRAS mutations occurred in SQCC-mGCs. Conclusions Our results demonstrated that oncogenic mutations in EGFR , KRAS , BRAF , HER2 , and ALK were extremely rare or absent in patients with pure SQCC, whereas SQCC-mGC had a relatively high frequency of EGFR, ALK , or KRAS mutations. Prospective identification of these known oncogenic mutations in SQCC-mGC before the initiation of treatment is an essential step to identify which patient could benefit from targeted therapies.
BACKGROUND Platelets are believed to be critical in pulmonary-origin ARDS as mediators of endothelial damage through their interactions with fibrinogen and multiple signal transduction pathways. A ...prior meta-analysis identified five loci for platelet count (PLT): BAD , LRRC16A , CD36 , JMJD1C , and SLMO2 . This study aims to validate the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) of PLT within BAD , LRRC16A , CD36 , JMJD1C , and SLMO2 among critically ill patients and to investigate the associations of these QTLs with ARDS risk that may be mediated through PLT. METHODS ARDS cases and at-risk control subjects were recruited from the intensive care unit of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Exome-wide genotyping data of 629 ARDS cases and 1,026 at-risk control subjects and genome-wide gene expression profiles of 18 at-risk control subjects were generated for analysis. RESULTS Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs7766874 within LRRC16A was a significant locus for PLT among at-risk control subjects (β = −13.00; 95% CI, −23.22 to −2.77; P = .013). This association was validated using LRRC16A gene expression data from at-risk control subjects (β = 77.03 per 1 SD increase of log2 -transformed expression; 95% CI, 27.26-126.80; P = .005). Further, rs7766874 was associated with ARDS risk conditioned on PLT (OR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.51-0.90; P = .007), interacting with PLT (OR = 1.15 per effect allele per 100 × 103 /μL of PLT; 95% CI, 1.03-1.30; P = .015), and mediated through PLT (indirect OR = 1.045; 95% CI, 1.007-1.085; P = .021). CONCLUSIONS Our findings support the role of LRRC16A in platelet formation and suggest the importance of LRRC16A in ARDS pathophysiology by interacting with, and being mediated through, platelets.
Background Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are involved in a number of biologic responses. Recent preclinical studies demonstrated that the PI3K-dominant signal pathway could play an important ...role in the development of acute lung injury, although the mechanism remains unclear. Methods CD-1 mice were administered different PI3K inhibitors either intranasally or intragastrically once a day for 3 days before intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide at 4 h and 24 h. Effects of SHBM1009 on lipopolysaccharide-induced capillary permeability, leukocyte distribution and activation, and epithelial cell function were measured. Therapeutic effects of SHBM1009 on pancreatic elastase-induced lung injury were evaluated in rats. Results The data demonstrated that the local delivery of PI3K inhibitors played more effective roles in the prevention of endotoxin-induced lung injury than the systemic delivery. The preventive effects of PI3K inhibitors varied most likely because of chemical properties, targeting sites, and pharmacokinetics. The local PI3K inhibitors prevented both endotoxin- and elastase-induced lung injury in mice and rats, possibly through directly inhibiting or inactivating the function of airway epithelial cells, which could not produce chemoattractant factors to activate neutrophils and macrophages. Conclusions PI3K may be a therapeutic target for lung injury, and local delivery of PI3K inhibitors may be one of the optimal approaches for the therapy.
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