The evidence for pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) as a non-pharmacological management strategy for people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is consistent and continues to accrue. Meta-analysis has demonstrated that it effectively improves exercise capacity, dyspnoea and health-related quality of life,1 and preliminary data suggest that improved physical performance following PR is associated…

August 2023 – Volume 78 – 8 Asthma Original research: Rebound in asthma exacerbations following relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions: a longitudinal population-based study (COVIDENCE UK) (23 November, 2022) …

Introduction Lower tidal volume ventilation, facilitated by veno-venous extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (vv-ECCO2R), does not improve 90-day mortality in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF). The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the effect of this therapeutic strategy on long-term outcomes. Methods This was a prespecified analysis of the REST trial, a UK-wide…

The prototypical study of diagnostic test accuracy compares the results of one or more index tests to an independent ‘reference-standard’ determination of true disease status: ‘disease positive’ (D+) or ‘disease negative’ (D−). If the index test is binary—either ‘test positive’ (T+) or ‘test negative’ (T−)—then sensitivity is the proportion of D+ individuals who have T+ on the index test and…

High rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ukraine suggest screening is necessary to mitigate public health hazards for host populations. A pathway was implemented in Wales and data prospectively collected Between 8 April and 21 December 2022. Of 5425 Ukrainian arrivals, notifications were received by TB teams on 2395 (44%) of whom 1955 (82%) were screened. The refugees were young (median age…

Background Cigarette smoking is the strongest risk factor for COPD. Smoking burden is frequently measured in pack-years, but the relative contribution of cigarettes smoked per day versus duration towards the development of structural lung disease, airflow obstruction and functional outcomes is not known. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from a large multicentre cohort (COPDGene) of…