Related Articles

Differential diagnosis of usual interstitial pneumonia: when is it truly idiopathic?

Eur Respir Rev. 2014 Sep;23(133):308-319

Authors: Wuyts WA, Cavazza A, Rossi G, Bonella F, Sverzellati N, Spagnolo P

Abstract
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the most common and lethal of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, is defined by a radiological and/or pathological pattern of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). However, UIP is not synonymous with IPF as other clinical conditions may be associated with UIP, including chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis, collagen vascular disease, drug toxicity, asbestosis, familial IPF and Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. Differentiating IPF ("idiopathic UIP") from conditions that mimic IPF ("secondary UIP") has substantial therapeutic and prognostic implications. A number of radiological and histological clues may help distinguish IPF from other conditions with a UIP pattern of fibrosis, but their appreciation requires extensive expertise in interstitial lung disease as well as an integrated multidisciplinary approach involving pulmonologists, radiologists and pathologists. In addition, multidisciplinary discussions may decrease the time to initial IPF diagnosis and, thus, enable more timely management. This concept was strongly emphasised by the 2011 ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT guidelines. This article highlights, with the aid of a clinical case, the difficulties in making a diagnosis of IPF in clinical practice. Yet, an accurate diagnosis is critical, particularly given the availability of drugs that may reduce the pace of functional decline and disease progression in IPF.

PMID: 25176967 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles

The vascular bed in COPD: pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary vascular alterations.

Eur Respir Rev. 2014 Sep;23(133):350-355

Authors: Sakao S, Voelkel NF, Tatsumi K

Abstract
The loss of pulmonary vessels has been shown to be related to the severity of pulmonary hypertension in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The severity of hypoxaemia is also related to pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary vascular resistance in these patients, suggesting that the hypoxic condition probably plays an important role in this form of pulmonary hypertension. However, pulmonary hypertension also develops in patients with mild COPD without hypoxaemia. Oxygen supplementation therapy often fails to reverse the pulmonary hypertension in these COPD patients, thus suggesting that the pulmonary vascular alterations in those patients may involve different sites of the pulmonary vasculature or a different form of vascular remodelling. It has recently been demonstrated that pulmonary vascular remodelling, resulting in pulmonary hypertension in COPD patients, can develop independently from parenchymal destruction and loss of lung vessels. We wonder whether the changes in the lung microenvironment due to hypoxia and vessel loss have a causative role in the development of pulmonary hypertension in patients with COPD. Herein we review the pathobiological features of the pulmonary vasculature in COPD patients and suggest that pulmonary hypertension can occur with and without emphysematous lung tissue destruction and with and without loss of lung vessels.

PMID: 25176971 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles

Assessment and lifestyle management of patients with obesity: clinical recommendations from systematic reviews.

JAMA. 2014 Sep 3;312(9):943-52

Authors: Kushner RF, Ryan DH

Abstract
IMPORTANCE: Even though one-third of US adults are obese, identification and treatment rates for obesity remain low. Clinician engagement is vital to provide guidance and assistance to patients who are overweight or obese to address the underlying cause of many chronic diseases.
OBJECTIVES: To describe current best practices for assessment and lifestyle management of obesity and to demonstrate how the updated Guidelines (2013) for Managing Overweight and Obesity in Adults based on a systematic evidence review sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) can be applied to an individual patient.
EVIDENCE REVIEW: Systematic evidence review conducted for the Guidelines (2013) for Managing Overweight and Obesity in Adults supports treatment recommendations in 5 areas (risk assessment, weight loss benefits, diets for weight loss, comprehensive lifestyle intervention approaches, and bariatric surgery); for areas outside this scope, recommendations are supported by other guidelines (for obesity, 1998 NHLBI-sponsored obesity guidelines and those from the National Center for Health and Clinical Excellence and Canadian and US professional societies such as the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and American Society of Bariatric Physicians; for physical activity recommendations, the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans); a PubMed search identified recent systematic reviews covering depression and obesity, motivational interviewing for weight management, metabolic adaptation to weight loss, and obesity pharmacotherapy.
FINDINGS: The first step in obesity management is to screen all adults for overweight and obesity. A medical history should be obtained assessing for the multiple determinants of obesity, including dietary and physical activity patterns, psychosocial factors, weight-gaining medications, and familial traits. Emphasis on the complications of obesity to identify patients who will benefit the most from treatment is more useful than using body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) alone for treatment decisions. The Guidelines (2013) recommend that clinicians offer patients who would benefit from weight loss (either BMI of ≥30 with or without comorbidities or ≥25 along with 1 comorbidity or risk factor) intensive, multicomponent behavioral intervention. Some clinicians do this within their primary care practices; others refer patients for these services. Weight loss is achieved by creating a negative energy balance through modification of food and physical activity behaviors. The Guidelines (2013) endorse comprehensive lifestyle treatment by intensive intervention. Treatment can be implemented either in a clinician's office or by referral to a registered dietitian or commercial weight loss program. Weight loss of 5% to 10% is the usual goal. It is not necessary for patients to attain a BMI of less than 25 to achieve a health benefit.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Screening and assessment of patients for obesity followed by initiation or referral of treatment should be incorporated into primary care practice settings. If clinicians can identify appropriate patients for weight loss efforts and provide informed advice and assistance on how to achieve and sustain modest weight loss, they will be addressing the underlying driver of many comorbidities and can have a major influence on patients' health status.

PMID: 25182103 [PubMed - in process]

Associations and outcomes of septic pulmonary embolism.

Open Respir Med J. 2014;8:28-33

Authors: Goswami U, Brenes JA, Punjabi GV, LeClaire MM, Williams DN

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Septic pulmonary embolism is a serious but uncommon syndrome posing diagnostic challenges because of its broad range of clinical presentation and etiologies.
OBJECTIVE: To understand the clinical and radiographic associations of septic pulmonary embolism in patients presenting to an acute care safety net hospital.
METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of imaging and electronic health records of all patients diagnosed with septic pulmonary embolism in our hospital between January 2000 and January 2013.
RESULTS: 41 episodes of septic pulmonary embolism were identified in 40 patients aged 17 to 71 years (median 46); 29 (72%) were men. Presenting symptoms included: febrile illness (85%); pulmonary complaints (66%) including pleuritic chest pain (22%), cough (19%) and dyspnea (15%); and those related to the peripheral foci of infection (24%) and shock (19%). Sources of infection included: skin and soft tissue (44%); infective endocarditis (27%); and infected peripheral deep venous thrombosis (17%). 35/41 (85%) were bacteremic with staphylococcus aureus. All patients had peripheral nodular lesions on chest CT scan. Treatment included intravenous antibiotics in all patients. Twenty six (63%) patients required pleural drainage and/or drainage of peripheral abscesses. Seven (17%) patients received systemic anticoagulants. Eight (20%) patients died due to various complications.
CONCLUSION: The epidemiology of septic pulmonary embolism has broadened over the past decade with an increase in identified extrapulmonary, non-cardiac sources. In the context of an extrapulmonary infection, clinical features of persistent fever, bacteremia and pulmonary complaints should raise suspicion for this syndrome, and typical findings on the chest CT scans confirm the diagnosis. Antibiotics, local drainage procedures and increasingly, anticoagulation are keys to successful outcomes.

PMID: 25184008 [PubMed]