RECOVERY

Let’s Read an Article a Month – May 2023

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The cropped screenshot of the first page of the article. It also includes the URL or link to the article.

Every month I try to read an open-access article. Then, I share the title and associated link with my followers. This is to encourage clinicians to read articles, stay up-to-date, and continue to grow.

The objective of this month’s paper is to ”find out the correlation, if any, between DLCO and severity of radiological abnormality on high-resolution-CT (HRCT) scan chest among silicosis patients” (p353). 

Measurement of diffusion lung capacity (DLCO) in silicosis patients: Correlation with radiographic abnormalities on high-resolution CT scan chest. Lung India. 

By: Dixit R, Jalutharia J, Gupta A, Mathur R, Goyal M, Gupta N, Chaudhary P, and Tiwari T. 

2022 Jul-Aug;39(4):352-356. doi: 10.4103/lungindia.lungindia_280_21. PMID: 35848668; PMCID: PMC9390300.

Link to the article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9390300/pdf/LI-39-352.pdf

  • n=56

“… simple silicosis (category 0, 1) does not produce significant impairment in lung function; however, impairment in lung function on spirometry or DLCO or a combination of these two was observed in patients with advanced simple silicosis (category 3).”

page 355

“…in patients presenting with large opacities, there is a progressive decrease in DLCO with increasing extent of radiological abnormality on HRCT (r > −0.8, P < 0.001). “

page 355

“… HRCT chest is the most sensitive tool to assess deterioration in DLCO at the earliest. This study also suggests that functional damage of lungs correlates more strongly with the extent of larger opacities compared to small opacities.

page 356

As always, take the time to study the article and learn about all the results and findings. 

Happy reading and learning,

Farzad Refahi

May 2nd, 2023

Let’s Read an Article a Month – May 2023

Let’s Read an Article a Month – April 2023

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The cropped screenshot of the first page of the article. It also includes the URL or link to the article.

Every month I try to read an open-access article. Then, I share the title and associated link with my followers. This is to encourage clinicians to read articles, stay up-to-date, and continue to grow.

The objective of this month’s paper is to “to assess survivors’ short-term (month 3 (M3)), intermediate-term (month 6 (M6)) and long-term (month 12 (M12)) trajectories of lung function recovery after severe-to-critical COVID-19, and their determinants” (p2).

Respiratory recovery trajectories after severe-to-critical COVID-19: a 1-year prospective multicentre study

Frédéric Schlemmer, Simon Valentin, Laurent Boyer, Anne Guillaumot, François Chabot, Clairelyne Dupin, Pierre Le Guen, Gwenael Lorillon, Anne Bergeron, Damien Basille, Julia Delomez, Claire Andrejak, Valentine Bonnefoy, Hélène Goussault, Jean-Baptiste Assié, Pascaline Choinier, Anne-Marie Ruppert, Jacques Cadranel, Maria Chiara Mennitti, Mehdi Roumila, Charlotte Colin, Sven Günther, Olivier Sanchez, Thomas Gille, Lucile Sésé, Yurdagul Uzunhan, Morgane Faure, Maxime Patout, Capucine Morelot-Panzini, Pierantonio Laveneziana, Maeva Zysman, Elodie Blanchard, Chantal Raherison-Semjen, Violaine Giraud, Etienne Giroux-Leprieur, Stéfanie Habib, Nicolas Roche, Anh Tuan Dinh-Xuan, Islem Sifaoui, Pierre-Yves Brillet, Camille Jung, Emmanuelle Boutin, Richard Layese, Florence Canoui-Poitrine, Bernard Maitre on behalf of the RE2COVERI Study Group

European Respiratory Journal 2023 61: 2201532; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01532-2022

Link to the article: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/erj/61/4/2201532.full.pdf

N=485

“ Most patients with prolonged follow-up had progressive lung function, exercise capacity and radiological improvements, with greater progress made during the first 6 months post-hospital discharge than thereafter. ”

page 11

“PFT results frequently remained abnormal at M6 and M12, with restriction and markedly impaired DLCO persisting in ∼40% and almost half of patients with prolonged follow-up, respectively. While the decreased 6MWT distance reflected initial disease severity, no significant difference among groups was observed for the number of repetitions during the 1MSST or the peripheral oxygen saturation change during both exercise capacity tests.”

page 7

As always, take the time to study the article and learn about all the results and findings. 

Happy reading and learning,

Farzad Refahi

April 26, 2023

https://respiratory.blog/lets-read-an-article-a-month-april-2023/

Let’s read an article a month – October 2021

by
The cropped screenshot of the first page of the article. It also includes the URL or link to the article.

Every month I try to read an open-access article. After reading the article, I share the title and associated link with my followers. This is to encourage clinicians to read articles, stay up to date, and continue to grow.

The objective of this paper is to “evaluate respiratory function 4 months after diagnosis in patients who survive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the difference between patients with or without initial lung involvement” (p1).

Medium-term impact of COVID-19 on pulmonary function, functional capacity and quality of life

By: Fabio Anastasio, Sarah Barbuto, Elisa Scarnecchia, Paolo Cosma, Alessandro Fugagnoli, Giulio Rossi, Mirco Parravicini, and Pierpaolo Parravicini.

European Respiratory Journal 2021 58: 2004015; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.04015-2020

Link to the article: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/58/3/2004015?etoc

Reasons I liked this article

  • The age range for this study was 18 to 80 years old (p2).  Also, a detailed assessment was attained from the subjects, of course post infection, which included SF-12 and IPAQ questionnaires, 6MWT,  and a comprehensive PFT (p2).
  • This study shows “a reduction of respiratory function and exercise capacity secondary to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, mostly in patients who developed ARDS during the acute phase” (p9). 
  • The authors suggest that the data may indicate that “respiratory evaluation does not appear to be necessary in patients without pneumonia and without symptoms. DLCO, 6MWT and plethysmography could be avoided in patients without pneumonia, performing only spirometry with bronchodilator responsiveness testing…In contrast, in patients who developed ARDS, DLCO, 6MWT and complete spirometry could uncover presence of residual pulmonary and functional impairment, with need for respiratory rehabilitation and gradual physical activity “ (p10). 

As always, take the time to read this study. There is a lot of information and data covered in the study which I cannot cover here.  As a disclaimer, continue to follow guidelines for ordering PFTs and providing patient care as recommended by your employer and regulatory body.

Happy reading and learning,

Farzad Refahi

October 6th, 2021

https://respiratory.blog/lets-read-an-article-a-month-october-2021/

Let’s read an article a month – May 2021

by
The cropped screenshot of the first page of the article. It also includes the URL or link to the article.

Every month I try to read an open-access article. After reading the article, I share the title and associated link with my followers. This is to encourage clinicians to read articles, stay up to date, and continue to grow.

This month I found a great piece to share with you.  This one falls under the infection and lung function categories. The objective of this paper is to “ [assess] patient-reported dyspnoea, lung function, quality of life (QoL) and parenchymal opacities in chest CT scans 3 months after hospital admission for COVID-19 in a prospective, consecutive Norwegian cohort of patients with or without ICU treatment. ” [p2]. 

Dyspnoea, lung function and CT findings 3 months after hospital admission for COVID-19

By: Tøri Vigeland Lerum, Trond Mogens Aaløkken, Eivind Brønstad, Bernt Aarli, Eirik Ikdahl , Kristine Marie Aarberg Lund , Michael T. Durheim, Jezabel Rivero Rodriguez , Carin Meltzer , Kristian Tonby, Knut Stavem, Ole Henning Skjønsberg, Haseem Ashraf and Gunnar Einvik. 

Eur Respir J 2021; 57: 2003448

Link to the pdf/article: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/erj/57/4/2003448.full.pdf

Why this article caught my attention:

  • It helped me have a better understanding of the recovery process of individuals with COVID19.  There will be a lot of focus on the recovery and rehab of patients once we are done with the peak of this pandemic.  
  • Includes valuable information as it focuses on symptoms and various diagnostic data which includes PFT and CT scans! Check out page 3 and also Table 2 on page 5 for more information

I really hope that more studies like this will be conducted on our COVID19 patients.

How are you preparing for COVID19 Rehab? Which set of data and recommendations are you using?

Happy learning and reading!

Farzad Refahi

May 31st, 2021