OBJECTIVE To evaluate, in a lung model simulating a mechanically ventilated patient, the efficiency and safety of the manual hyperinflation (MH) maneuver as a means of removing pulmonary secretions. METHODS Eight respiratory therapists (RTs) were asked to use a self-inflating manual resuscitator on a lung model to perform MH as if to remove secretions, under two conditions: as routinely appli...

Dose delivery (total emitted dose, or TED) from dry powder inhalers (DPIs), pulmonary deposition, and the biological effects depend on drug formulation and device and patient characteristics. The aim of this study was to measure, in vitro, the relationship between parameters of inhalation profiles recorded from patients, the TED and fine particle mass (FPM) of Diskus and Turbuhaler inhalers. In...

BACKGROUND Ramadan fasting is a major challenge for exercising Muslims especially in warm seasons. There is some evidence to indicate that Ramadan fasting causes higher subjective ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) in fasting Muslims. The mechanisms of this phenomenon are not known exactly. The role of respiratory muscle strength in this regard has not been studied yet. OBJECTIVES The aim of...

Dose delivery (total emitted dose, or TED) from dry powder inhalers (DPIs), pulmonary deposition, and the biological effects depend on drug formulation and device and patient characteristics. The aim of this study was to measure, in vitro, the relationship between parameters of inhalation profiles recorded from patients, the TED and fine particle mass (FPM) of Diskus and Turbuhaler inhalers. In...

OBJECTIVE chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevalence steadily increases with age. However, the effectiveness of inhaled therapy in the elderly COPD population has rarely been formally evaluated. We studied a group of elderly patients with COPD with a range of severity, selected from one General Practice register to measure peak inspiratory flow (PIF) and assess patient perceived be...

Several studies have shown that after fibreoptic bronchoscopy there may be a deterioration in lung function but it is not known whether this is due to the premedication, the topical anaesthetic, or the obstruction produced by the bronchoscope. The effects of each part of the procedure on spirometric measurements were studied in patients with lung disease and in normal non-smokers. Measurements ...

This study explored the concept that morphine has latent deleterious actions on the ventilatory control systems that respond to a hypoxic-hypercapnic challenge. In this study, we examined the ventilatory responses elicited by hypoxic-hypercapnic challenge in conscious rats at a time when the effects of morphine (10 mg/kg) on arterial blood-gas chemistry and minute ventilation had subsided. Morp...

Respiratory dysfunction is the leading cause of mortality following upper cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Reinnervation of the paralyzed diaphragm via an anastomosis between phrenic nerve and a donor nerve is a potential strategy to mitigate ventilatory deficits. In this study, anastomosis of vagus nerve (VN) to phrenic nerve (PN) in rabbits was performed to assess the potential capacity of ...

Our study was to assess whether there were differential effects of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) on different kinds of obstruction in either upper or lower airways in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). nCPAP (6 cmH2O for ten minutes) was applied to 7 patients with reversible extrathoracic upper airway obstruction (RUAO) and 3 patients with fixed extr...