Search Results

Approximately half of all smokers will develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with a disease progression over several years before the spirometric threshold for diagnosis is reached.1 There is, therefore, a clear benefit in identifying patients with COPD as early as possible. Early detection, diagnosis and maintenance treatment of COPD, along with smoking cessation and exercise, may help to […]

The nasal airway serves as the primary entry point of air and oxygen into the body. It serves critical functions, such as providing a physical barrier against external irritants and pathogens and warming and humidifying incoming air.1 Consequently, disorders of the nose and nasal cavity may lead to pathological downstream effects by impacting the normal physiological […]

Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) is often recommended prior to lung transplantation in patients with end-stage lung disease to improve physiologic performance and surgical outcomes. We caught up with Prof. David R. Nunley (Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA) to discuss the aims, design, inclusion criteria and findings from his study analysing the physiological benefits from PR […]

Sleep disordered breathing in children comprises a spectrum of abnormal breathing patterns associated with increased airflow resistance and sleep disruption. Sleep disordered breathing is categorized by severity into primary snoring, upper airway resistance syndrome, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Pediatric OSA has a prevalence of up to 5% in children.1 The most common cause of increased […]

Subcutaneous emphysema (SE) is relatively common in the intensive care unit (ICU) and often a complication of positive pressure ventilation.1,2 While typically self-limiting and benign, life-threatening sequela can develop. Progressive accumulation of subcutaneous air can result in significant compressive forces leading to the development of a rare clinical entity known as massive subcutaneous emphysema (MSE). The […]

Breathing problems during sleep commonly occur in children. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is the most common breathing-related problem that occurs during sleep and snoring is the main symptom. Habitual snoring, which is defined as snoring for more than three days a week, is seen in 7.45% of children.1 OSA is defined as recurrent events of […]

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, deadly and incurable condition.1 With a five-year survival rate below 60%, the outcome of this disease is not any better than that of many cancers.1,2 However, numerous treatment options are currently available: more than 20 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have been conducted over the past 10 years, allowing […]

Adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) is a non-invasive ventilatory therapy that provides variable inspiratory positive airway pressure (IPAP) to support inspiration when breathing amplitude is reduced, ensures sufficient respiration when respiratory effort is absent and provides fixed or variable end-expiratory PAP (EPAP) to maintain upper airway patency. This approach is designed to mimic nasal continuous PAP (CPAP) […]