Active clinical trials for "Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive"

The aim of the present study is: To investigate pulmonary function abnormalities (restriction, obstruction, diffusion impairment, mixed pulmonary defects) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and to determine which of these pulmonary abnormalities prevail and to what extent. To determine the prevalence, underdiagnosis, and overdiagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as determined by spirometry and according to Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria in patients with CHF. To investigate the presence of systemic inflammation, as measured by inflammatory parameters (leukocytes, platelets, high sensitivity CRP), in CHF patients with or without COPD.

People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) often have periods during the year when their symptoms become worse. These are often due to an infection and are called "exacerbations" by doctors. Exacerbations are more common in the winter and also seem to be related to particular types of weather. As well as forecasting the weather the UK Met Office has developed a system to try to predict when exacerbations are likely to occur. The main purpose of this research study is to find out whether the Met Office forecasting service can predict when exacerbations are more likely to occur and whether the advice given during the predicted higher risk periods leads to fewer patients having an exacerbation or if it reduces the impact of the exacerbation. The study will also assess if there is a link between viral or bacterial infection and breathing problems that occur during the study period. The study will also collect information about possible causes of the breathing problems and what happens to the person afterwards. The results of this study will help us learn more about breathing problems which may lead to new research studies that would aim to improve the care of people with COPD.

In this study, 20 COPD patients will undergo a high-resolution/multi slice CT scan and lung function tests to obtain patient specific geometries of the central and peripheral small airways and patient specific boundary conditions. With Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), the investigators will be able to reconstruct the geometry and measure the resistance of the peripheral airways. In a later stage, CFD will be used to simulate the reaction of the airways on various inhalation medications.

Aim: To investigate whether patients with pulmonary hypertension have reduced absorption capacity compared to COPD patients without cor pulmonale potentially due to venous obstruction in the portal vein system. The presence of cor pulmonale was determined by echocardiography. The concentration of D-xylose and zinc were measured in peripheral blood one, two and three hours after ingestion and used as markers of absorption. Furthermore, urine was collected for five hours to determine the amount of excreted D-xylose.

For AECOPD patients, only 8% patients ventilated by noninvasive and invasive positive pressure ventilation. Nasal cannula is the most common pattern of oxygen therapy in mild AECOPD. As a low flow oxygen therapy, nasal cannula has many disadvantages.Therefore, we design a randomized controlled trial(RCT)to explore whether HFNC would be better than nasal cannula to prevent the aggravation of respiratory failure and endotracheal intubation in mild AECOPD.

Magnesium (Mg) is involved in several pathways that could be affected in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPDs), namely in the contractility and excitability of neuro-muscolar endothelial cells and low-grade inflammation, a typical state of COPD. In this sense, several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) confirmed a positive role of Mg in asthma since long-period oral supplementation of Mg leads to a clinical and spirometric improvement. Subjects with COPD seem to have a reduced bioavailability of Mg probably due to the use of drugs that may increase Mg losses (e.g. beta-agonists and cortisones), to a reduced dietary Mg intake, and heavy smoking. A recent study showed that the administration of endovenous or aerosol Mg sulphate with beta-agonists acutely improve maximum expiratory flow during COPD relapses as well as the prolonged treatment with endovenous sulphate Mg led to a reduction in pulmonary hyperinflation and increase in muscles involved in respiration, with a consequent clinical and instrumental improvement. These evidences suggest that a chronic supplementation with Mg could improve COPD in clinical and instrumental parameters, but, at the best of our knowledge, no study was available in this sense.

Purpose: Patients with mental health disorders have a reduced life expectancy, compared to the general population. The shorter life expectancy is caused by natural and unnatural death. In general, patients with a mental disorder tend to have a more unhealthy lifestyle, than the general population, characterized by e.g. lack of exercise and smoking. Hypothesis Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is underdiagnosed in psychiatric inpatients There is a higher prevalence of COPD in psychiatric inpatients compared to the general population Screening of patients with one respiratory symptom and a smoking history, has the same sensitivity regarding to diagnosis of COPD, as screening all patients with a smoking history Method: 80 psychiatric inpatients will undergo spirometry with reversibility test and COPD Assessment Test (CATest). Furthermore, patient history regarding respiratory symptoms and smoking will be taken into account.

Investigators propose to develop methods to improve early identification of acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) among HIV-infected individuals. Investigators hypothesize that earlier identification of acute exacerbations through in-home monitoring of respiratory symptoms, lung function and medication usage will allow appropriate intervention to reduce the morbidity associated with AECOPD. Therefore, the investigators propose using innovative mobile health (mHealth) applications to Respond Early to Acute exacerbations of COPD in HIV (mREACH). COPD is a co-morbidity of HIV with growing recognition, but remains greatly under-recognized among HIV-infected persons. In this application, among HIV-infected individuals with spirometry-confirmed COPD, investigators will conduct a pilot randomized trial of mHealth monitoring compared to usual care to reduce the symptom and clinical burden of AECOPD.

Whole body vibration training seems to be a useful adjunct in exercise training in patients with severe COPD. The basic principle relies on reflectory muscle contractions caused by a vibration stimulus. Until now the impact of whole body vibration training on cardiopulmonary parameters remained unknown. Therefore aim of this study is to investigate cardiopulmonary parameters during whole body vibration training in patients with chronic lung disease.

The study will begin in 2013 whereby patients having an early warning system (EWS) alert will be randomized to be seen by the rapid response team (RRT) for triage versus usual care. A RRT is usually made up of a nurse and/or a physician who respond to a requested activation of the RRT (called an "ACT"). The intervention will occur as follows: