scholarly journals Peer Review #1 of "Association between the number and size of intrapulmonary lymph nodes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease severity (v0.2)"

Author(s):  
B Ghanim
2007 ◽  
Vol 113 (5) ◽  
pp. 243-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Joachim Kabitz ◽  
Stephan Walterspacher ◽  
David Walker ◽  
Wolfram Windisch

Staging criteria for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) include symptoms and lung function parameters, but the role of reduced inspiratory muscle strength related to disease severity remains unclear. Therefore the present study tested whether inspiratory muscle strength is reduced in COPD and is related to disease severity according to GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) criteria and assessed its clinical impact. PImax (maximal inspiratory mouth occlusion pressure), SnPna (sniff nasal pressure) and TwPmo (twitch mouth pressure) following bilateral anterior magnetic phrenic nerve stimulation were assessed in 33 COPD patients (8 GOLD0, 6 GOLDI, 6 GOLDII, 7 GOLDIII and 6 GOLDIV) and in 28 matched controls. Furthermore, all participants performed a standardized 6 min walking test. In comparison with controls, PImax (11.6±2.5 compared with 7.3±3.0 kPa; P<0.001), SnPna (9.7±2.5 compared with 6.9±3.3 kPa; P<0.001) and TwPmo (1.6±0.6 compared with 0.8±0.4 kPa; P<0.001) were markedly lower in COPD patients. TwPmo decreased with increasing COPD stage. TwPmo was correlated with walking distance (r=0.75; P<0.001), dyspnoea (r=−0.61; P<0.001) and blood gas values following exercise (r>0.57; P<0.001). Inspiratory muscle strength, as reliably assessed by TwPmo, decreased with increasing severity of COPD and should be considered as an important factor in rating disease severity and to reflect burden in COPD.


Author(s):  
Uma Rani Adhikari ◽  
Soma Roy

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is recently the most common chronic lung disease and presents a serious medical, economic, and social problem for people. A correlational survey research was adopted to identify relationship between quality of life and disease severity among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) clients attending Pulmonary Medicine OPD in a selected hospital, Kolkata with the objectives to assess the quality of life of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) clients and to find out correlation between disease severity and quality of life among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) clients. Purposive sampling technique was adapted to select 138 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) clients attending Pulmonary Medicine OPD in a tertiary care hospital, Kolkata. The structured interview schedule was used to collect on demographic data and standardized WHO QOL BREF tool was used to assess Quality of Life. Standardized GOLD criteria were used to assess disease severity of COPD clients. Reliability of the demographic data collection tool was established by inter- rater method and r was 0.77. All the tools were tried out before final data collection. The finding of the study revealed statistically non-significant relationship between all the domain of QOL and disease severity of COPD patients. Total Quality of Life score is also not significantly related with COPD Disease severity score. The study results also showed that QOL is not associated with sociodemographic characteristics. The study concluded that, there is no correlation between quality of life and disease severity.


2010 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Inal-Ince ◽  
Sema Savci ◽  
Melda Saglam ◽  
Ebru Calik ◽  
Hulya Arikan ◽  
...  

Background and aims: Fatigue is associated with longitudinal ratings of health in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although the degree of airflow obstruction is often used to grade disease severity in patients with COPD, multidimensional grading systems have recently been developed. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceived and actual fatigue level and multidimensional disease severity in patients with COPD. Materials and methods: Twenty-two patients with COPD (aged 52-74 years) took part in the study. Multidimensional disease severity was measured using the SAFE and BODE indices. Perceived fatigue was assessed using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS). Peripheral muscle endurance was evaluated using the number of sit-ups, squats, and modified push-ups that each patient could do. Results: Thirteen patients (59%) had severe fatigue, and their St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire scores were significantly higher (p < 0.05). The SAFE index score was significantly correlated with the number of sit-ups, number of squats, FSS score and FIS score (p < 0.05). The BODE index was signif- icantly associated with the numbers of sit-ups, squats and modified push-ups, and with the FSS and FIS scores (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Peripheral muscle endurance and fatigue perception in patients with COPD was related to multidimensional disease severity measured with both the SAFE and BODE indices. Improvements in perceived and actual fatigue levels may positively affect multidimensional disease severity and health status in COPD patients. Further research is needed to investigate the effects of fatigue perception and exercise training on patients with different stages of multidimensional COPD severity.


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