Let’s Read an Article a Month – May 2023

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 – April 2023

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/