Thoracic meeting features research on pulmonary diseases and ICU

NEW ORLEANS—Researchers at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society presented findings in the organization's areas of focus: pulmonary diseases, critical care and sleep.

Two studies of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) looked at the effects of exercise. One trial found that being active on a regular basis was more closely associated with patients' functional status than their maximal exercise tolerance, indicating the importance of encouraging patients to be regularly active, researchers said. Another study found that obese COPD patients benefit as much from pulmonary rehabilitation as thinner patients.

Asthma researchers found that patients could reduce their use of corticosteroids through an online self-management program and that consumption of a high-fat, fast-food meal increases airway inflammation. A follow up of adult survivors of childhood asthma may also indicate a link between the pediatric disease and later development of COPD. New basic science was also presented about the effects of estrogen on the lung, which may have potential to affect treatment of menstrual or pre-menstrual asthma.

In critical care, a comparison of Pennsylvania hospitals' public reporting of central-line bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia with mortality rates found no association between reported rates and mortality in at-risk patients. The study author theorized that hospitals are gaming the system and recommended more auditing of public reports. In another Pennsylvania study, uninsured ICU patients were more likely to die and less likely to get a number of procedures—central lines, tracheostomies and acute hemodialysis—regardless of where they were treated, indicating that disparities in care are not caused by variations among hospitals.

Testing for obstructive sleep apnea can be conducted effectively in patients' homes instead of the lab, according to a study from the Veterans Administration. The practice, which is commonly used in Europe, could potentially reduce costs of testing. Another study found clinical benefit to treating patients with obstructive sleep apnea, even if they don't report daytime sleepiness. Cardiac events and new cases of hypertension were reduced in patients who used continuous positive airway pressure at least four hours per night.

—Stacey Butterfield