Respiratory function in childhood following repair of oesophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula.
(25/1515)
AIM: To determine the relation between respiratory function in infancy and at school age in children who have undergone oesophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula repair, and assess the value of infant respiratory function testing; and to examine the effect of bronchodilators. METHOD: Fourteen children (6 girls, and 8 boys) who had undergone respiratory function testing in infancy were retested at school age (7-12 years). Measurements included lung volume, airways resistance, peak flow, and spirometry. Clinical problems were investigated by questionnaire. Twelve children had repeat measurements after taking salbutamol. RESULTS: Predominant complaints were non-productive cough and dysphagia, but even those children with major problems in infancy reported few restrictions at school or in sport or social activities. Respiratory function and clinical findings at school age appeared unrelated to status in infancy, such that even the patients with severe tracheomalacia requiring aortopexy did not have lung function testing suggestive of malacia at school age. Most patients showed a restrictive pattern of lung volume which would appear to result from reduced lung growth after surgery rather than being a concomitant feature of the primary congenital abnormality. Although six children reported wheeze and four had a diagnosis of asthma, only one responded to salbutamol. This suggests that a tendency to attribute all lower respiratory symptoms to asthma may have led to an overdiagnosis of this condition in this patient group. CONCLUSION: Respiratory function testing in infancy is of limited value in medium term prognosis, but may aid management of contemporary clinical signs. In children respiratory function testing is valuable in assessing suspected asthma and effects of bronchodilators. (+info)
Bordetella pertussis and chronic cough in adults.
(26/1515)
To evaluate Bordetella pertussis as a cause of persistent cough in adults, we examined 201 patients who had a cough for 2-12 weeks and no pulmonary disease. We obtained the following at presentation: medical history, chest radiograph, respiratory function measurement, nasopharyngeal aspirate for polymerase chain reaction (PCR), nasopharyngeal swab specimen for culture, and a blood sample (acute serum). Four weeks later a second blood sample (convalescent serum) was obtained. Control sera were obtained from 164 age-matched healthy blood donors with no history of cough during the previous 12 weeks. Four patients were B. pertussis culture-positive; 11 (including the culture-positive patients) were B. pertussis PCR-positive; and 33, including 10 of the 11 PCR-positive patients, had serological evidence of recent B. pertussis infection. Pertussis-positive and -negative patients could not be discriminated by a history of cough. We conclude that B. pertussis infection is a common cause of persistent cough in adults. This is of concern, because these patients may be B. pertussis reservoirs from which transmission may occur to infants, in whom the disease can be devastating. (+info)
Cough threshold in people with spinal cord injuries.
(27/1515)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the cough threshold between people with and without spinal cord injury (SCI). The effect of smoking on cough threshold was also investigated. SUBJECTS: The participants were 26 people with SCI (15 smokers, 11 nonsmokers) and 18 people without SCI (9 smokers, 9 nonsmokers). METHODS: Aerosols of citric acid were delivered with incremental doubling concentration from 62.5 mmol to 2 mol. Cough threshold was defined as the first concentration of citric acid that induced at least 2 coughs, which is associated with large chest excursion and concurrently acoustic response. RESULTS: The mean cough thresholds of smokers and nonsmokers with SCI (209 and 417 mmol, respectively) were lower than those of smokers and nonsmokers without SCI (467 and 1,072 mmol, respectively). The mean citric acid cough thresholds decreased in smokers with and without SCI when compared with nonsmokers with and without SCI. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: The cough sensitivity increased in subjects with SCI, and smoking could also increase the cough sensitivity. Training about the frequency and technique of cough in patients with SCI should be carefully monitored. (+info)
Asthma survey items as predictors of respiratory problems in children 2 yrs later: a longitudinal study.
(28/1515)
The study compared the ability of characteristics defined by an asthma survey (wheeze versus cough and asthma diagnosis versus no diagnosis) to predict later respiratory problems in a cohort of 108 schoolchildren who had reported either recent wheeze or recurrent cough in a 1987 asthma survey. The children recorded daily respiratory symptoms and peak flow from April 1989 until May 1990. The frequency and severity of lower respiratory symptom episodes and peak flow dips were compared in the wheeze and cough groups and in the diagnosed versus nondiagnosed children. The independent effects of initial wheeze, atopy, diagnosis and bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) on the longitudinal outcome measures were assessed using multiple linear regression. Children with initial wheeze had more chronic symptoms and peak flow variability than those with cough alone, but wheeze had only a weak effect on frequency and severity of acute lower respiratory episodes. Children with both wheeze and atopy had more acute symptomatic episodes and more chronic symptoms than did the other children. Children with diagnosed asthma (versus no diagnosis) had significantly more frequent and severe lower respiratory exacerbations, more days symptomatic and greater peak flow variability. The predictive effects of diagnosis were independent of (and stronger than the effects of) wheeze, atopy and BHR, or combinations of these variables. The results suggest that among children who report respiratory symptoms, survey-reported wheeze on its own is a weaker marker of significant respiratory disease than is a doctor's diagnosis of asthma. (+info)
Inner city air pollution and respiratory health and atopy in children.
(29/1515)
The impact of inner city air pollution on the development of respiratory and atopic diseases in childhood is still unclear. In a cross sectional study in Dresden, Germany, 5,421 children in two age groups (5-7 yrs and 9-11 yrs) were studied according to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) phase II protocol. The prevalences of wheezing and cough as well as doctor diagnosed asthma and bronchitis were assessed by parental questionnaires. Children also underwent skin-prick testing, venipuncture for the measurement of serum immunoglobulin (Ig)E, lung function testing and a bronchial challenge test (4.5% saline) to assess airway hyperresponsiveness. Exposure was assessed on an individual basis by relating mean annual air pollution levels (SO2, NO2, CO, benzene, and O3) which had been measured on a 1 km2 grid, to the home and school address of each study subject. After adjusting for potential confounding factors an increase in the exposure to benzene of 1 microg x m3 air was associated with an increased prevalence of morning cough (adjusted odds ratio (aOR)): 1.15; 1.04-1.27) and bronchitis (aOR: 1.11; 1.03-1.19). Similar associations were observed for NO2 and CO. In turn, the prevalences of atopic sensitization, symptoms of atopic diseases and bronchial hyperresponsiveness were not positively associated with exposure to any of these pollutants. It is concluded that in this study a moderate increase in exposure to traffic-related air pollution was associated with an increased prevalence of cough and bronchitis, but not with atopic conditions in children. (+info)
The effect of inhaled mannitol on bronchial mucus clearance in cystic fibrosis patients: a pilot study.
(30/1515)
It has been postulated that hypertonic saline (HS) might impair the antimicrobial effects of defensins within the airways. Alternative non-ionic osmotic agents such as mannitol may thus be preferable to HS in promoting bronchial mucus clearance (BMC) in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). This study reports the effect of inhalation of another osmotic agent, dry powder Mannitol (300 mg), compared with its control (empty capsules plus matched voluntary cough) and a 6% solution of HS on BMC in 12 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Mucus clearance was measured using a radioaerosol/gamma camera technique. Post-intervention clearance was measured for 60 min, followed by cough clearance for 30 min. Neither mannitol nor HS improved BMC during the actual intervention period compared with their respective controls. However during the post-intervention measurement there was a significant improvement in BMC for both the mannitol (8.7+/-3.3% versus 2.8+/-0.7%) and HS (10.0+/-2.3% versus 3.5+/-0.8%). There was also a significant improvement in cough clearance with the Mannitol (9.7+/-2.4%) compared with its control (2.5+/-0.8%). Despite premedication with a bronchodilator, a small fall in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) was seen immediately after administration of both the mannitol (7.3+/-2.5%) and HS (5.8+/-1.2%). Values of FEV1 returned to baseline by the end of the study. Inhaled mannitol is a potential mucoactive agent in cystic fibrosis patients. Further studies are required to establish the optimal dose and the long-term effectiveness of mannitol. (+info)
End-tidal sevoflurane concentration for tracheal extubation (MACEX) in adults: comparison with isoflurane.
(31/1515)
Sevoflurane has a non-pungent odour and provides smooth induction of anaesthesia. In contrast, isoflurane is irritating to the airway when used for induction, and this may also be evident during emergence from anaesthesia. We measured the end-tidal concentration of anaesthetic that prevented response to extubation in 50% of patients (MACEX) in adults receiving either sevoflurane or isoflurane. Airway complications during emergence from anaesthesia were also noted. We studied 51 adult patients, ASA 1, aged 36-59 yr. Patients received sevoflurane (n = 29) or isoflurane (n = 22) for elective intraocular surgery. The concentration at which extubation was attempted was determined by a modification of Dixon's up-and-down method. When tracheal extubation was accomplished without coughing and gross purposeful muscular movements within 1 min after extubation, it was considered a smooth tracheal extubation. Patients who developed breath-holding or laryngospasm immediately after tracheal extubation were regarded as not having been extubated smoothly. In addition, patients were observed for respiratory events during the remainder of the emergence period. MACEX values for sevoflurane and isoflurane were 1.07% and 0.83%, respectively. ED95 values of sevoflurane and isoflurane were 2.04% and 1.19%, respectively. In 12 patients in the isoflurane group, extubation was smooth but six patients had coughing episodes during the remainder of the emergence period. In contrast, one of 15 patients in the sevoflurane group in whom tracheal extubation was smooth coughed later (P = 0.035). Airway obstruction was frequent when tracheal extubation was performed at end-tidal concentrations exceeding 1 MACEX for each anaesthetic. (+info)
Combined epidural-spinal opioid-free anaesthesia and analgesia for hysterectomy.
(32/1515)
Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are major problems after gynaecological surgery. We studied 40 patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy, allocated randomly to receive opioid-free epidural-spinal anaesthesia or general anaesthesia with continuous epidural bupivacaine 15 mg h-1 or continuous bupivacaine 10 mg h-1 with epidural morphine 0.2 mg h-1, respectively, for postoperative analgesia. Nausea, vomiting, pain and bowel function were scored on 4-point scales for 3 days. Patients undergoing general anaesthesia had significantly higher nausea and vomiting scores (P < 0.01) but significantly lower pain scores during rest (P < 0.05) and mobilization (P < 0.01). More patients undergoing general anaesthesia received antiemetics (13 vs five; P < 0.05), but fewer received supplementary opioids on the ward (eight vs 16; P < 0.05). We conclude that opioid-free epidural-spinal anaesthesia for hysterectomy caused less PONV, but with less effective analgesia compared with general anaesthesia with postoperative continuous epidural morphine and bupivacaine. (+info)