This study compares, by meta-analysis, the use of anterior-posterior chest radiography (CR) with transthoracic ultrasonography for the diagnosis of pneumothorax.
English-language articles on the performance of CR and ultrasonography in the diagnosis of a pneumothorax were selected. In eligible studies, data were recalculated, and the forest plots and summary receiver operating characteristic (sROC) curves were analyzed.
Pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.88 and 0.99, respectively, for ultrasonography, and 0.52 and 1.00, respectively, for CR. For ultrasonography performed by clinicians other than radiologists, pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.89 and 0.99, respectively. The sROC areas under the curve were compared, and no significant differences between ultrasonography and CR were found. Meta-regression analysis implied that the operator is strongly associated with accuracy (relative diagnostic OR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.05-0.96; P = .0455).
The meta-analysis indicated that bedside ultrasonography performed by clinicians had higher sensitivity and similar specificity compared with CR in the diagnosis of pneumothorax, but the accuracy of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of pneumothorax depended on the skill of the operators.
COPD is a preventable and treatable disease characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The diagnosis of COPD is based on spirometric evidence of airways obstruction following bronchodilator administration. Although it used to be commonly believed that patients with COPD have largely irreversible airflow obstruction, evidence now suggests that a considerable proportion of patients exhibit clinically significant bronchodilator reversibility. The complexity and inherent variability of a patient’s acute response to a bronchodilator and the lack of a standardized procedure for assessing bronchodilator reversibility have led to significant confusion surrounding this concept. Although bronchodilator reversibility commonly is defined based on thresholds for improvement in FEV1, lung volume-based measures of pulmonary function may be of particular importance in patients with severe COPD. The usefulness of acute reversibility to short-acting bronchodilators in predicting a patient’s long-term response to bronchodilator maintenance therapy is also unclear, although most studies suggest that a lack of acute response to short-acting bronchodilators does not preclude a beneficial long-term response to maintenance bronchodilator treatment. This review outlines recent findings about the prevalence and usefulness of bronchodilator reversibility in patients with COPD based on the available literature and proposes areas of future research.
Data on the clinical effectiveness of oseltamivir in patients with pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) (A[H1N1]) virus infection are scarce. We aimed to determine the effect of timing of oseltamivir administration on outcomes in hospitalized adults with A(H1N1).
Observational analysis of a prospective cohort of adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed A(H1N1) was performed at 13 Spanish hospitals. Time from onset of symptoms to oseltamivir administration was the independent variable. Outcomes were duration of fever, hospital length of stay (LOS), need for mechanical ventilation, and mortality during hospitalization. Multivariate logistic regression was used to describe the association between the independent variable and the outcomes.
Five hundred thirty-eight hospitalized patients with A(H1N1) were studied. The median time from onset of symptoms to oseltamivir administration was 3 days (interquartile range [IQR], 2-5 days). With regard to outcomes, the median duration of fever was 2 days (IQR, 1-3 days), the median LOS was 5 days (IQR, 3-8 days), 49 patients (9.1%) underwent mechanical ventilation, and 11 patients (2%) died during hospitalization. In univariate analysis, prolonged duration of fever (above the median), prolonged LOS (above the median), need for mechanical ventilation, and mortality all increased with time to oseltamivir administration (2 test for trend P = .001, P ≤ .001, P = .008, and P = .001, respectively). After adjustment for confounding factors, time from onset of symptoms to oseltamivir administration (+ 1-day increase) was associated with a prolonged duration of fever (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.02-1.19), prolonged LOS (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.00-1.15), and higher mortality (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.06-1.35).
Timely oseltamivir administration has a beneficial effect on outcomes in hospitalized adults with A(H1N1), even in those who are admitted beyond 48 h after onset of symptoms.