Sex and gender in lung health and disease: more than just Xs and Ys
Every nucleated human cell carries sex chromosomes and every person has a gender. These terms "sex" and "gender" are often used interchangeably and incorrectly in the scientific literature, but they mean different things: sex is a biological attribute associated with physical and physiological features determined by chromosomes, hormones, anatomy and gene expression; whereas gender is a sociocultural construct based on expressions of identity, behaviours and social roles [1]. Thus, sex and gender-related factors can both influence health and disease via distinct but intersecting mechanisms. There are important sex differen...
Source: European Respiratory Review - November 8, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Weatherald, J., Riha, R. L., Humbert, M. Tags: Respiratory clinical practice Editorials Source Type: research
Development and clinical translation of tubular constructs for tracheal tissue engineering: a review
Effective restoration of extensive tracheal damage arising from cancer, stenosis, infection or congenital abnormalities remains an unmet clinical need in respiratory medicine. The trachea is a 10–11 cm long fibrocartilaginous tube of the lower respiratory tract, with 16–20 tracheal cartilages anterolaterally and a dynamic trachealis muscle posteriorly. Tracheal resection is commonly offered to patients suffering from short-length tracheal defects, but replacement is required when the trauma exceeds 50% of total length of the trachea in adults and 30% in children. Recently, tissue engineering (TE) has shown...
Source: European Respiratory Review - November 8, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Soriano, L., Khalid, T., Whelan, D., O'Huallachain, N., Redmond, K. C., O'Brien, F. J., O'Leary, C., Cryan, S.-A. Tags: Pulmonary pharmacology and therapeutics Reviews Source Type: research
Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated interstitial lung disease: a review
Over the past three decades, an increasing number of publications have reported the association between interstitial lung disease (ILD) and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) or ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). With this increased awareness, we have reviewed the literature to date and provide an update in this narrative review. The vast majority of cases of ILD have been shown to be in the setting of positive anti-myeloperoxidase antibody and can be present in up to 45% of patients of microscopic polyangiitis, though cases of ILD associated with proteinase 3 ANCA have rarely been reported. Pulmonary fibrosis and ...
Source: European Respiratory Review - November 8, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Kadura, S., Raghu, G. Tags: Interstitial and orphan lung disease Reviews Source Type: research
Sex and gender in respiratory physiology
Sex is a biological concept determined at conception. Gender is a social concept. Medicine recognises sex as a biological variable and recommends including sex as a factor in clinical practice norms and as a topic of bench and clinical research. Sex plays a role in respiratory physiology according to two pathways: hormones and anatomy, with females characterised by smaller dimensions at every level of the respiratory system. Sex hormones also play specific roles in lung inflammatory processes, breathing control and in response to diseases. The literature is extremely controversial because many factors need to be considered...
Source: European Respiratory Review - November 8, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: LoMauro, A., Aliverti, A. Tags: Mechanisms of lung disease Sex and gender in lung disease Source Type: research
Sex and gender in pulmonary arterial hypertension
This article aims to review epidemiology, mechanisms underlying the higher female predominance, but better prognosis and the intricacies in management of women affected by PAH. (Source: European Respiratory Review)
Source: European Respiratory Review - November 8, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Cheron, C., McBride, S. A., Antigny, F., Girerd, B., Chouchana, M., Chaumais, M.-C., Jaïs, X., Bertoletti, L., Sitbon, O., Weatherald, J., Humbert, M., Montani, D. Tags: Pulmonary vascular disease Sex and gender in lung disease Source Type: research
COVID-19 pneumonia: pathophysiology and management
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia is an evolving disease. We will focus on the development of its pathophysiologic characteristics over time, and how these time-related changes determine modifications in treatment. In the emergency department: the peculiar characteristic is the coexistence, in a significant fraction of patients, of severe hypoxaemia, near-normal lung computed tomography imaging, lung gas volume and respiratory mechanics. Despite high respiratory drive, dyspnoea and respiratory rate are often normal. The underlying mechanism is primarily altered lung perfusion. The anatomical prerequisites for P...
Source: European Respiratory Review - October 20, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Gattinoni, L., Gattarello, S., Steinberg, I., Busana, M., Palermo, P., Lazzari, S., Romitti, F., Quintel, M., Meissner, K., Marini, J. J., Chiumello, D., Camporota, L. Tags: Respiratory infections and tuberculosis COVID-19 Reviews Source Type: research
A role for club cells in smoking-associated lung adenocarcinoma
The cellular origin of lung adenocarcinoma remains a focus of intense research efforts. The marked cellular heterogeneity and plasticity of the lungs, as well as the vast variety of molecular subtypes of lung adenocarcinomas perplex the field and account for the extensive variability of experimental results. While most experts would agree on the cellular origins of other types of thoracic tumours, great controversy exists on the tumour-initiating cells of lung adenocarcinoma, since this histologic subtype of lung cancer arises in the distal pulmonary regions where airways and alveoli converge, occurs in smokers as well as ...
Source: European Respiratory Review - October 20, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Behrend, S. J., Giotopoulou, G. A., Spella, M., Stathopoulos, G. T. Tags: Lung cancer Lung Science Conference Reviews Source Type: research
Lung cancer is also a hereditary disease
Pathogenic genetic variants (formerly called mutations) present in the germline of some individuals are associated with a clinically relevant increased risk of developing lung cancer. These germline pathogenic variants are hereditary and are transmitted in an autosomal dominant fashion. There are two major lung cancer susceptibility syndromes, and both seem to be specifically associated with the adenocarcinoma subtype. Li-Fraumeni syndrome is caused by variants in the TP53 tumour-suppressor gene. Carriers are mainly at risk of early-onset breast cancer, sarcoma, glioma, leukaemia, adrenal cortical carcinoma and lung cancer...
Source: European Respiratory Review - October 20, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Benusiglio, P. R., Fallet, V., Sanchis-Borja, M., Coulet, F., Cadranel, J. Tags: Lung cancer Thoracic oncology Source Type: research
Thymic tumours and their special features
This article provides an overview of the most recent findings in the diagnosis, staging, histology, and management strategies of thymic tumours. (Source: European Respiratory Review)
Source: European Respiratory Review - October 20, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Basse, C., Girard, N. Tags: Lung cancer Thoracic oncology Source Type: research
Antibiotics as immunomodulators: a potential pharmacologic approach for ARDS treatment
First described in the mid-1960s, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening form of respiratory failure with an overall mortality rate of approximately 40%. Despite significant advances in the understanding and treatment of ARDS, no substantive pharmacologic therapy has proven to be beneficial, and current management continues to be primarily supportive. Beyond their antibacterial activity, several antibiotics such as macrolides and tetracyclines exert pleiotropic immunomodulatory effects that might be able to rectify the dysregulated inflammatory response present in patients with ARDS. This review a...
Source: European Respiratory Review - October 5, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Sauer, A., Peukert, K., Putensen, C., Bode, C. Tags: Interstitial and orphan lung disease, Respiratory infections and tuberculosis Review Source Type: research
Exploring the 175-year history of spirometry and the vital lessons it can teach us today
175 years have elapsed since John Hutchinson introduced the world to his version of an apparatus that had been in development for nearly two centuries, the spirometer. Though he was not the first to build a device that sought to measure breathing and quantify the impact of disease and occupation on lung function, Hutchison coined the terms spirometer and vital capacity that are still in use today, securing his place in medical history. As Hutchinson envisioned, spirometry would become crucial to our growing knowledge of respiratory pathophysiology, from Tiffeneau and Pinelli's work on forced expiratory volumes, to Fry...
Source: European Respiratory Review - October 5, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Kouri, A., Dandurand, R. J., Usmani, O. S., Chow, C.-W. Tags: Pulmonary pharmacology and therapeutics Review Source Type: research
Thoracic involvement and imaging patterns in IgG4-related disease
Conclusion
Thoracic involvement of IgG4-RD is heterogeneous and likely underestimated. The main thoracic CT scan patterns are peribronchovascular thickening and thoracic lymph nodes. (Source: European Respiratory Review)
Source: European Respiratory Review - October 5, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Muller, R., Habert, P., Ebbo, M., Graveleau, J., Groh, M., Launay, D., Audia, S., Pugnet, G., Cohen, F., Perlat, A., Benyamine, A., Bienvenu, B., Gaigne, L., Chanez, P., Gaubert, J. Y., Schleinitz, N. Tags: Lung imaging Review Source Type: research
The efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in thoracic malignancies
The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has rapidly transformed the treatment paradigm for multiple cancer types, including thoracic malignancies. In advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), ICIs have shifted treatment paradigm and improved overall survival reaching almost one-third of patients alive at 5 years. ICIs therapies have also modified the therapeutic strategy in first-line setting in metastatic small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients as well as in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) improving the overall survival compared with standard treatment. This phenomenon is of huge relevance as both SC...
Source: European Respiratory Review - October 5, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Remon, J., Facchinetti, F., Besse, B. Tags: Lung cancer Thoracic oncology Source Type: research
Mediastinal tumours and pseudo-tumours: a comprehensive review with emphasis on multidisciplinary approach
The diagnosis of a mediastinal mass may be challenging for clinicians, since lesions arising within the mediastinum include a variety of disease entities, frequently requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Age and sex represent important information, which need to be integrated with imaging and laboratory findings. In addition, the location of the mediastinal lesion is fundamental; indeed, we propose to illustrate mediastinal diseases based on the compartment of origin. We consider that this structured approach may serve as hint to the diagnostic modalities and management of mediastinal diseases. In this review, we present...
Source: European Respiratory Review - October 5, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Ghigna, M.-R., Thomas de Montpreville, V. Tags: Lung cancer Thoracic oncology Source Type: research
ERS/EAACI statement on adherence to international adult asthma guidelines
Guidelines aim to standardise and optimise asthma diagnosis and management. Nevertheless, adherence to guidelines is suboptimal and may vary across different healthcare professional (HCP) groups.
Further to these concerns, this European Respiratory Society (ERS)/European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) statement aims to: 1) evaluate the understanding of and adherence to international asthma guidelines by HCPs of different specialties via an international online survey; and 2) assess strategies focused at improving implementation of guideline-recommended interventions, and compare process and clinical out...
Source: European Respiratory Review - September 15, 2021 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Mathioudakis, A. G., Tsilochristou, O., Adcock, I. M., Bikov, A., Bjermer, L., Clini, E., Flood, B., Herth, F., Horvath, I., Kalayci, O., Papadopoulos, N. G., Ryan, D., Sanchez Garcia, S., Correia-de-Sousa, J., Tonia, T., Pinnock, H., Agache, I., Janson, Tags: Asthma and allergy ERS/EAACI Statement Source Type: research
