Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is one of the most dangerous diseases among cancers and tuberculosis is one of the deadliest infectious diseases in the world. Many studies have mentioned the connection between lung cancer and tuberculosis, and also the microRNAs that play a significant role in the development of these two diseases. This study aims to use different databases to find effective miRNAs and their role on different genes on lung and tuberculosis diseases. Also determining the role of miR-34a and miR-182 in lung cancer and tuberculosis...

RATIONALE: Despite the global increase in nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD), there are geographical variations in clinical characteristics. We investigated the clinical characteristics of patients with NTM-PD in South Korea. METHODS: We systematically reviewed articles about patients with NTM-PD in South Korea until February 2022. Individual participant data, regardless of treatment, were collected using a standard case report form. RESULTS: The data of 6,489 patients from 11 hospitals between 2002 and 2019 were analyzed...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular comorbidity is common in individuals with Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These factor interferes in pharmacological treatment. The use of beta-blockers has been proposed for their known cardioprotective effects. However, there is a reluctance to use them due to adverse reactions and the risk of causing bronchospasm. OBJECTIVE: To summarize existing evidences on the effects of beta-blocker use in COPD associated with cardiovascular comorbidities in relation to disease severity, exacerbation and mortality outcomes...

Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) exhibits significant diversity, making it challenging to define an optimal treatment. A collaborative multidisciplinary approach is essential in crafting individualized treatments. Previously, targeted therapies and immunotherapies were commonly used to treat patients with advanced and metastatic lung cancer. Such treatments are now being extended to individuals considered surgery, as well as patients once considered unsuitable for surgery. These changes have increased surgical success and substantially reduced postoperative recurrence...

In cases where pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is not microbiologically diagnosed via sputum specimens, bronchoscopy has been the conventional method to enhance diagnostic rates. Although the additional benefit of bronchoscopy in diagnosing PTB is well-known, its overall effectiveness remains suboptimal. This review introduces several strategies for improving PTB diagnosis via bronchoscopy. First, it discusses how bronchoalveolar lavage or an increased number of bronchial washings can increase specimen abundance...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent sleep disorder associated with various health issues. Although some studies have suggested an association between reduced lung function and OSA, this association remains unclear. Our study aimed to explore this relationship using data from a nationally representative population-based survey. METHODS: We performed an analysis of data from the 2019 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Our study encompassed 3,675 participants aged 40 years and older...

INTRODUCTION: Intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy is being used as an effective agent since 1949 in managing complicated pleural effusion and empyema. Several agents like streptokinase (STK), urokinase (UK), and recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) are found to effective with variable effectiveness. However, head-to-head controlled trial to compare the efficacy of the most frequently used i.e., UK and rt-PA (alteplase) in managing complicated pleural effusion has rarely been reported...

BACKGROUND: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is known to useful biomarker for detecting eosinophilic airway inflammation. However, there is a lack of evidence regarding the role of FeNO in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We aimed to assess whether elevated FeNO and its impact on treatment change into an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing regimen and association with acute exacerbation (AE) in patients with COPD. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 107 COPD patients without history of asthma from March 2016 to December 2019...

The continuously increasing prevalence of severe asthma has imposed an increasing burden worldwide. Despite the emergence of novel therapeutic agents, management of severe asthma remains challenging. Insights garnered from big data may be helpful in the effort to determine the complex nature of severe asthma. In the field of asthma research, a vast amount of big data from various sources, including electronic health records, national claims data, and international cohorts, is now available. However, understanding of the strengths and limitations is required for proper utilization of specific datasets...

BACKGROUND: Increasing age has been observed among patients admitted to the intensive care unit(ICU). Age traditionally considered a risk factor for ICU mortality. We investigated how the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of older ICU patients have changed over a decade. METHODS: We analyzed patients admitted to the ICU at a university hospital in Seoul, South Korea. We defined patients aged 65 and older as older patients. Changes in age groups and mortality risk factors over the study period were analyzed...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is a fatal disease with varying clinical characteristics and imaging. The aim of this study was to define the clinical characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes in patients with APE at a university hospital in Thailand. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with APE and admitted to our institute between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2022 were retrospectively enrolled. The clinical characteristics, investigations, and outcomes were recorded...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The increasing incidence of incidental pulmonary nodules necessitates effective biopsy techniques for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning. This paper reviews the widely used advanced bronchoscopic techniques such as radial endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial lung biopsy, electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy and the cutting-edge robotic-assisted bronchoscopy. In addition, the cryobiopsy technique, which can enhance diagnostic yield by combining with conventional biopsy tools, is described for application to peripheral pulmonary lesions and mediastinal lesions, respectively...

BACKGROUND: Although inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) is reportedly associated with a higher risk of pneumonia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the clinical implications of ICS have not been sufficiently verified to determine their effect on the prognosis of pneumonia. METHODS: The electronic health records of patients hospitalized for pneumonia with underlying COPD were retrospectively reviewed. Pneumonia was confirmed using chest radiography or computed tomography...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects close to 400 million people worldwide and is the 3rd leading cause of mortality. It is a heterogeneous disorder with multiple endo-phenotypes, each driven by specific molecular networks and processes. Therapeutic discovery in COPD has lagged behind other disease areas owing to a lack of understanding of its pathobiology and scarcity of biomarkers to guide therapies. Single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a powerful new tool to identify important cellular and molecular networks that play a crucial role in disease pathogenesis...

The consequences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are particularly severe in older adults with a disproportionate number of severe and fatal outcomes. Therefore, this integrative review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the clinical characteristics, management approaches, and prognosis of older patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Common clinical presentations in older patients include fever, cough, and dyspnea. Additionally, preexisting comorbidities, especially diabetes and pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, were frequently observed and associated with adverse outcomes...

OBJECTIVES: Globally, providing evidence on the economic burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is becoming essential to assist health authorities in improving resource allocation. This study aimed to summarize the literature's economic burden evidence for COPD from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: This study, spanning from 1990 to 2019, examined the economic burden of COPD through a systematic review of online databases, including Web of Science, PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library...

BACKGROUND: There is limited data regarding the clinical outcomes of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of CHIP as a COPD biomarker. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted on patients with COPD who were enrolled prospectively in the Seoul National University Hospital Airway Registry from January 2013 to December 2019 and underwent pulmonary function and blood tests...