Center-based pulmonary rehabilitation is positioned as the accepted standard for pulmonary rehabilitation. There, however, are several barriers to its utilization, and usage rates remain as low as ...4%, despite decades of trying to improve access. The question then arises as to who is really benefiting from center-based pulmonary rehabilitation as this therapy is barely available to eligible patients. Alternative modes of delivery of pulmonary rehabilitation have been tested. Meta-analyses indicate that these alternate modes are associated with clinical improvements comparable with center-based pulmonary rehabilitation in several outcomes that are important for patients, including the 6-min walk distance, dyspnea, and quality of life. These modes are also associated with better adherence to the intervention than center-based pulmonary rehabilitation. Telehealth pulmonary rehabilitation and home-based pulmonary rehabilitation, therefore, are attractive alternatives to center-based pulmonary rehabilitation and will exponentially increase pulmonary rehabilitation capacity.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammatory disease of the lung associated with progressive airflow limitation and punctuated by episodes of acute exacerbation. There is growing ...recognition that the inflammatory state associated with COPD is not confined to the lungs but also involves the systemic circulation and can impact nonpulmonary organs. Epidemiologic and mechanistic studies indicate that COPD is associated with a high frequency of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias, independent of shared risk factors. Possible pathways include complex interrelationships between chronic low-grade systemic inflammation and oxidative stress as well as shared risk factors such as age, cigarette smoking, and environmental pollutants. In this review, we provide an overview of the epidemiologic data linking COPD with cardiovascular disease, comment on the interrelationships among COPD, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease, and highlight diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.
Despite numerous advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology, progression, and management of acute respiratory failure (ARF) and ARDS, limited contemporary data are available on the ...mortality burden of ARF and ARDS in the United States.
What are the contemporary trends and geographic variation in ARF and ARDS-related mortality in the United States?
A retrospective analysis of the National Center for Health Statistics’ nationwide mortality data was conducted to assess the ARF and ARDS-related mortality trends from 2014 through 2018 and the geographic distribution of ARF and ARDS-related deaths in 2018 for all American residents. Piecewise linear regression was used to evaluate the trends in age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMRs) in the overall population and various demographic subgroups of age, sex, race, urbanization, and region.
Among 1,434,349 ARF-related deaths and 52,958 ARDS-related deaths during the study period, the AAMR was highest in older individuals (≥ 65 years), non-Hispanic Black people, and those living in the nonmetropolitan region. The AAMR for ARF-related deaths (per 100,000 people) increased from 74.9 (95% CI, 74.6-75.2) in 2014 to 85.6 (95% CI, 85.3-85.9) in 2018 (annual percentage change APC, 3.4 95% CI, 2.2-4.6; Ptrend = .003). The AAMR (per 100,000 people) for ARDS-related deaths was 3.2 (95% CI, 3.2-3.3) in 2014 and 3.0 (95% CI, 3.0-3.1 in 2018; APC, −0.9 95% CI, −5.4 to 3.8; Ptrend = .56). The observed increase in rates for ARF mortality was consistent across the subgroups of age, sex, race or ethnicity, urbanization status, and geographical region (Ptrend < .05 for all). The AAMR (per 100,000 people) for ARF (91.3 95% CI, 90.8-91.8) and ARDS-related mortality (3.3 95% CI, 3.2-3.4) in 2018 were highest in the South.
The ARF-related mortality increased at approximately 3.4% annually, and ARDS-related mortality showed a lack of decline in the last 5 years. These data contextualize important health information to guide priorities for research, clinical care, and policy, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the United States.
Background COPD is associated with significant morbidity primarily driven by acute exacerbations. Relative pulmonary artery (PA) enlargement, defined as a PA to ascending aorta (A) diameter ratio ...greater than one (PA:A > 1) identifies patients at increased risk for exacerbations. However, little is known about the correlation between PA:A, echocardiography, and invasive hemodynamics in COPD. Methods A retrospective observational study of patients with severe COPD being evaluated for lung transplantation at a single center between 2007 and 2011 was conducted. Clinical characteristics, CT scans, echocardiograms, and right-sided heart catheterizations were reviewed. The PA diameter at the bifurcation and A diameter from the same CT image were measured. Linear and logistic regression were used to examine the relationships between PA:A ratio by CT scan and PA systolic pressure (PASP) by echocardiogram with invasive hemodynamics. Receiver operating characteristic analysis assessed the usefulness of the PA:A ratio and PASP in predicting resting pulmonary hypertension (PH) (mean pulmonary artery pressure mPAP > 25 mm Hg). Results Sixty patients with a mean predicted FEV1 of 27% ± 12% were evaluated. CT scan-measured PA:A correlated linearly with mPAP after adjustment for multiple covariates ( r = 0.30, P = .03), a finding not observed with PASP. In a multivariate logistic model, mPAP was independently associated with PA:A > 1 (OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.02-2.04; P = .04). PA:A > 1 was 73% sensitive and 84% specific for identifying patients with resting PH (area under the curve, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.72-0.93; P < .001), whereas PASP was not useful. Conclusions A PA:A ratio > 1 on CT scan outperforms echocardiography for diagnosing resting PH in patients with severe COPD.
According to numerous current guidelines, the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requires a ratio of the forced expiratory volume in the first second to the forced vital ...capacity (FEV1:FVC) of less than 0.70, yet this fixed threshold is based on expert opinion and remains controversial.
To determine the discriminative accuracy of various FEV1:FVC fixed thresholds for predicting COPD-related hospitalization and mortality.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Pooled Cohorts Study harmonized and pooled data from 4 US general population-based cohorts (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study; Cardiovascular Health Study; Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study; and Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis). Participants aged 45 to 102 years were enrolled from 1987 to 2000 and received follow-up longitudinally through 2016.
Presence of airflow obstruction, which was defined by a baseline FEV1:FVC less than a range of fixed thresholds (0.75 to 0.65) or less than the lower limit of normal as defined by Global Lung Initiative reference equations (LLN).
The primary outcome was a composite of COPD hospitalization and COPD-related mortality, defined by adjudication or administrative criteria. The optimal fixed FEV1:FVC threshold was defined by the best discrimination for these COPD-related events as indexed using the Harrell C statistic from unadjusted Cox proportional hazards models. Differences in C statistics were compared with respect to less than 0.70 and less than LLN thresholds using a nonparametric approach.
Among 24 207 adults in the pooled cohort (mean SD age at enrollment, 63 10.5 years; 12 990 54% women; 16 794 69% non-Hispanic white; 15 181 63% ever smokers), complete follow-up was available for 11 077 (77%) at 15 years. During a median follow-up of 15 years, 3925 participants experienced COPD-related events over 340 757 person-years of follow-up (incidence density rate, 11.5 per 1000 person-years), including 3563 COPD-related hospitalizations and 447 COPD-related deaths. With respect to discrimination of COPD-related events, the optimal fixed threshold (0.71; C statistic for optimal fixed threshold, 0.696) was not significantly different from the 0.70 threshold (difference, 0.001 95% CI, -0.002 to 0.004) but was more accurate than the LLN threshold (difference, 0.034 95% CI, 0.028 to 0.041). The 0.70 threshold provided optimal discrimination in the subgroup analysis of ever smokers and in adjusted models.
Defining airflow obstruction as FEV1:FVC less than 0.70 provided discrimination of COPD-related hospitalization and mortality that was not significantly different or was more accurate than other fixed thresholds and the LLN. These results support the use of FEV1:FVC less than 0.70 to identify individuals at risk of clinically significant COPD.
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