The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of exercise training by means of a rehabilitative walking protocol. Twenty patients with COPD staged as III/IV according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease were included. Patients were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the exercise program regarding oxygen desaturation, sensation of dyspnea/fatigue, quality ...

Ventilatory data, including timing and partitioning of ventilation, were obtained from six subjects with advanced Duchenne muscular dystrophy, aged 16 to 22 years, during polysomnography on two consecutive nights; the subjects were randomized to breathing air or oxygen. Five of the six patients developed oxygen desaturation exceeding 5 percent during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep while breathi...

The pathological features in the lung in asbestosis and cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis are similar. Patients with asbestosis, however, appear to have less severe impairment of transfer factor (TLCO) than those with fibrosing alveolitis for a given level of radiographic abnormality when assessed on the basis of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) profusion score. The impairment of lung...

The aim of this study was to determine whether it is possible using ear-oximetry to prescribe the correct oxygen flow rates during exercise in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients on long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT). Twenty COPD patients on LTOT, with exercise desaturation breathing oxygen at resting flow rates, performed a series of 6-min treadmill walking tests, with a progres...

OBJECTIVES Little is known about the early recovery phase occurring at-home after anesthesia and surgery in ambulatory surgical patients. We studied quantitative oximetry and quality-of-life metrics in the first 48 hours after same-day orthopedic surgery examining the association between the recovery metrics and specific patient and procedural factors. METHODS We used the STOP-Bang score to q...

The accuracy of a prediction equation for assessing the lowest arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) during sleep was determined in 24 consecutive patients with chronic obstructive lung disease referred for assessment for home oxygen therapy. Subjects had a mean (SD) FEV1 of 0.81 (0.31) litre and an FEV1/FVC of 37% (12%). There was reasonable agreement between predicted and measured values (mean di...

BACKGROUND Provision of ambulatory oxygen using an intermittent pulsed flow regulated by a demand oxygen delivery system (DODS) greatly increases the limited supply time of standard portable gaseous cylinders. The efficacy of such a system has not previously been studied during submaximal exercise in subjects with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in whom desaturation is likel...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Nocturnal hypoxemia is highly prevalent among patients with CKD. Nocturnal hypoxemia contributes to systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial cell dysfunction, and activation of the renin-angiotensin system, which are common pathologic mechanisms of CKD progression. This study investigated whether nocturnal hypoxemia is independently associated with CKD prog...

BACKGROUND In an earlier study investigating the "can't ventilate/can't intubate" clinical scenario, induction of anesthesia with thiopental 5 mg/kg and succinylcholine 1.0 mg/kg was associated with a significant risk of hemoglobin desaturation. It appeared that succinylcholine-induced apnea was responsible for the prolonged apnea. Our hypothesis was that using propofol and remifentanil for tra...