asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd) are highly prevalent chronic diseases in the general population. both are characterized by similar mechanisms: airway inflammation, airway obstruction, and airway hyperresponsiveness. however, the distinction between the two obstructive diseases is not always clear. multiple epidemiological studies demonstrate that in elderly people with o...

BACKGROUND Validated measures to assess the severity of airway obstruction in patients with obstructive airway disease are limited. Changes in the pulse oximeter plethysmograph waveform represent fluctuations in arterial flow. Analysis of these fluctuations might be useful clinically if they represent physiologic perturbations resulting from airway obstruction. We tested the hypothesis that the...

OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of distraction osteogenesis of the mandible for relief of airway obstruction in neurologically impaired children. DESIGN Prospective pilot study. SETTING Tertiary care children's hospital. PATIENTS Five children with upper airway obstruction secondary to hypotonia were identified by airway endoscopy, pulse oximetry, and polysomnography. Four childr...

Introduction Obstruction of the upper airway is one most important emergency situations in otorhinolaryngology. Mechanical obstruction can be caused by tumours, inflammation or injury pharyngeal and laryngeal region as well aspiration foreign bodies.

Plasma concentrations of a stable prostaglandin F2 alpha metabolite were measured by radioimmunoassay during and after recovery from acute airway obstruction in 15 infants. Mean (SEM) metabolite concentrations (ng/l) in plasma obtained both before (1033 (418)) and after (1470 (413)) initial treatment for airway obstruction were significantly higher than those obtained from the same subjects aft...

conclusions the fev1/fev6 ratio can be used as a valid surrogate for fev1/fvc in the diagnosis of airway obstruction, especially for screening purposes in high-risk populations for copd. moreover, fev6 is an acceptable alternative for fvc in detection of restrictive pattern. results this study shows that the current cut-off points used to detect obstruction and restriction can be replaced by fe...

Malignant airway obstruction and hemoptysis are common in lung cancer patients. Recently, airway stent is commonly used to preserve airway in malignant airway obstruction. Hemoptysis can be managed through various methods including conservative treatment, endobronchial tamponade, bronchoscopic intervention, embolization and surgery. In our case studies, we sought to investigate the effectivenes...

INTRODUCTION According to guidelines, the diagnosis of COPD should be confirmed by post-bronchodilator (post-BD) airway obstruction on spirometry; however, in clinical practice, this is not always performed. The aim of this population-based study was to compare clinical characteristics and prognosis, assessed as mortality, between subjects with airway obstruction divided into pre- but not post-...

BACKGROUND Lower airway obstruction has evolved to denote pathologies associated with diseases of the lung, whereas, conditions proximal to the lung embody upper airway obstruction. This approach has disconnected diseases of the larynx and trachea from the lung, and removed the 'middle airway' from the interest and involvement of respiratory physicians and scientists. However, recent studies ha...

A 1yr old boy weighing 10 kg underwent cleft palate surgery. Post extubation, a swelling was noticed beneath the tongue which progressed gradually and obstructed airway. Small sized endotracheal tube (ETT) used as nasal airway advanced till it relieved obstruction child started maintaining SpO2 >95%. Haemodynamic parameters were stable shifted from OT to PACU where he observed vigilantly for...