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11.1% in group B, P=0.02). There was no difference in the rate of positive biopsy histology in the groups (P=0.27). All 3 sampling modalities were more likely to be positive in group A (50.0% vs. 11.1% in group B and 22.2% in group C, P=0.04). Complications rate was low and not significantly different between groups. CONCLUSION The overall rate of a positive R-EBUS procedure was not affected by the initial sampling method or sequence. However, all 3 sampling modalities were more likely to be positive if biopsies were performed first, followed by brushings and washings.BACKGROUND We report our experience of the biodegradable polydioxanone stent in cases of bronchial compression by a dilated left atrium in children with heart disease. METHODS Eight custom-made biodegradable stents were inserted into the left main bronchus in 5 patients diagnosed with critical airway compression. Four of the 5 patients were ventilator-dependent with significant cardiac morbidity. RESULTS Stents were inserted without complication under fluoroscopic guidance. All experienced improvement in symptoms over time. In 3 patients, repeat bronchial stenting was performed where stent degradation was associated with recurrence of vascular airway compression and symptoms. No stents migrated nor was there evidence of bronchial or vascular erosion. There was 1 death, unrelated to the stent, and all remaining survivors were well at a 2-year follow-up. CONCLUSION The use of the polydioxanone biodegradable stent appeared safe in this cohort of critically ill patients with vascular bronchial compression. There use may aid weaning from mechanical ventilation and support eventual cardiac recovery.BACKGROUND Conflicting evidence of nebulized lidocaine use in bronchoscopy still exist. This study will identify whether there is any difference in various patient-related, physician-related, or procedure-related outcomes with and without lidocaine nebulization before the procedure. METHOD The authors performed a search in 4 electronic databases, including Pubmed, Scopus, Virtual Health Library, and Google Scholar from inception to August 2019. Data on patient-reported and physician-reported outcomes, doses of sedation, and lidocaine were extracted and pooled into standardized mean difference (SMD) and mean difference (MD) using the random-effect model. RESULTS Seven randomized controlled trials with 1366 patients were included. Cough was not different between the nebulized lidocaine group and no nebulized lidocaine group (SMD, -0.12; 95% confidence interval, -0.82 to 0.59; I, 95%; P=0.75), so as operator's satisfaction score, ease of the procedure, patient's discomfort, and unwillingness to repeat the procedure. Additional nebulized lidocaine group required higher lidocaine dose (MD, 81.93; 95% confidence interval, 17.14-146.71). Studies using only local anesthesia favored the "no additional lidocaine" group in improving cough, operator's satisfaction score, and ease of the procedure. Subgroup analysis of studies using moderate sedation showed a decrease in midazolam dose and duration of the procedure in the "additional nebulized lidocaine group." CONCLUSION Additional administration of nebulized lidocaine increased the total dose of lidocaine used and did not improve cough symptoms, operator-satisfaction score, ease of the procedure, and willingness to repeat the procedure. Subgroup analysis of studies using moderate sedation showed a decrease in midazolam use and in procedure duration but the clinical significance of these findings is uncertain.BACKGROUND Tracheobronchoplasty is the definitive treatment for patients with symptomatic excessive central airway collapse. This procedure is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Bronchoscopic techniques are an appealing alternative with less morbidity and the ability to apply it in nonsurgical patients. Although thermoablative methods have been proposed as treatment options to induce fibrosis of the posterior tracheobronchial wall, no studies have compared direct histologic effects of such methods. This study compared the effects of electrocautery, radiofrequency ablation, potassium titanyl phosphate laser, and argon plasma coagulation (APC) in the tracheobronchial tree in an ex vivo animal model. METHODS Four adult sheep cadavers were used for this study. Under flexible bronchoscopy, the posterior tracheal membrane was treated using different power settings on 4 devices. The airways were assessed for the presence of treatment-related histopathologic changes. RESULTS Histologic changes observed were that of acute thermal injury including surface epithelium ablation, collagen fiber condensation, smooth muscle cytoplasm condensation, and chondrocyte pyknosis. No distinct histologic differences in the treated areas among different modalities and treatment effects were observed. APC at higher power settings was the only modality that produced consistent and homogenous thermal injury effects across all tissue layers with no evidence of complete erosion. CONCLUSION Although electrocautery, radiofrequency ablation, potassium titanyl phosphate laser, and APC all induce thermal injury of the airway wall, only APC at high power settings achieves this effect without complete tissue erosion, favoring potential regeneration and fibrosis. Live animal studies are now plausible.BACKGROUND Nurse staffing ratios impact both the quality and safety of care on a particular unit. Most hospitals have access to a large volume of nurse-sensitive outcomes. We hypothesized that these data could be used to explore the impact of changing the nurse-to-patient ratio on patient-reported outcomes, nurse satisfaction scores, and quality of care metrics. METHODS Retrospective data from hospital resources (eg, Press Ganey reports) were linked to daily staffing records (eg, assignment sheets) in a pre-post study. Before September 2017, the nurse-to-patient ratio was 11.75 (pre); afterward, the ratio was reduced to 11.5 (post). RESULTS Press Ganey National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators scores were improved, staffing turnover rates were reduced, and falls were linked to periods of high nurse-to-patient ratios. CONCLUSION This study shows the efficacy of using readily available metrics to explore for associations between nurse staffing and nurse-sensitive outcomes at the nursing care unit level. This provides a unique perspective to optimize staffing ratios based on personalized (unit-level) metrics.BACKGROUND We investigated the association between age, duration of clinical symptoms and viral shedding in outpatient children infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Japan. METHODS Outpatients younger than 2 years of age, with suspected RSV infection between 2014 and 2018, were enrolled in the study. Following informed consent, nasal samples were collected at first and second clinic visits (with 0-9 days gap). RSV-A or -B infection and viral load were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Clinical symptoms were recorded at first clinic visit, and fever and symptoms were recorded at home for up to 8 days. Bafilomycin A1 Association between clinical symptoms and patient characteristics, such as age, sex and birth weight, were analyzed using ordered logistic regression analysis. The association between viral reduction and estimated shedding period was examined using linear regression analysis. RESULTS Among the 205 cases enrolled in the study, no difference was found in patient characteristics between RSV-A and -B infection. Duration of fever was prolonged with increased age. Duration of rhinorrhea and cough was shorter in females than in males and in groups with birth weight ≥3 kg than in those with less then 2.5 kg. Daily viral reduction increased and estimated viral elimination period decreased with age. CONCLUSIONS Fever duration was found to increase while viral shedding decreased with patient age.Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), often referred to as diastolic heart failure, remains one of the more challenging forms of heart failure to treat. This is a condition in which patients may or may not have signs and symptoms of heart failure, and retain a left ventricular EF > 50%. The challenge to treating HFpEF is due to the paucity of clinical trials with specific therapies, and those that have been completed have yielded relatively neutral results. This has resulted in treatments that are aimed more towards associated conditions, such as hypertension, and pulmonary edema, rather than the underlying pathophysiology. This article will review the epidemiology and pathophysiology of HFpEF, and discuss the current therapeutic modalities, and clinical trials. In addition, we will discuss an ongoing clinical trial and the impact it may hold on future treatment options.Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is a life-threatening condition in which amyloid fibrils accumulate in the heart, eventually leading to cardiac symptomatology and death. To date, treatment of this condition has been directed at symptom relief due to a lack of effective treatment options which target the cause of the disease. The discovery that amyloid deposition was a result of dissociation of the transthyretin protein structure allowed for the development of tafamidis, which acts by stabilizing the transthyretin tetramer. Due to the rare nature of the disease, there is limited clinical trial data with tafamidis, with the largest clinical trial enrolling only 441 patients. Nonetheless, that trial demonstrated tafamidis to reduce all-cause mortality as well as cardiovascular hospitalizations compared to placebo with a comparable adverse effect profile, although not all subgroups of patients received benefit. The United States Food and Drug Administration subsequently granted Fast Track review status to tafamidis, leading to its approval in May 2019. Important questions still remain, however, such as which patient groups will receive the most benefit with this drug, how the exceptionally high cost of the drug will be handled by third-party payers, and how the therapeutic role of tafamadis will evolve as competing or perhaps complementary medications complete their ongoing clinical trials and move into the marketplace.PURPOSE OF REVIEW Although most patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are appropriately treated with narrow-spectrum antibiotics, predicting which patients require coverage of drug-resistant pathogens (DRP) remains a challenge. The 2019 American Thoracic Society/Infectious Diseases Society of America CAP guidelines endorse using locally validated prediction models for DRP. Here we review risk factors for DRP and provide a summary of available risk prediction models. RECENT FINDINGS Both inadequate initial empiric spectrum as well as unnecessary broad-spectrum antibiotic use are associated with poor outcomes in CAP. Multiple prediction models for DRP-based patient-level risk factors have been published, with some variation in included predictor variables and test performance characteristics. Seven models have been robustly externally validated, and implementation data have been published for two of these models. All models demonstrated better performance than the healthcare-associated pneumonia criteria, with most favoring sensitivity over specificity.
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