Imaging of the Airways

Imaging of the Airways
Author: David P. Naidich
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2005
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780781757683

Written by recognized authorities on thoracic imaging, this volume is the first to examine all modalities—both noninvasive and invasive—for visualizing the airways. Emphasis is placed on correlating CT images with bronchoscopy, to aid in interpreting CT findings and in performing interventional bronchoscopic procedures. After a review of airway imaging techniques and anatomy, the book presents correlating CT and bronchoscopic images for a wide range of pathologic entities. Detailed chapters examine the trachea and central bronchi, the diagnosis of bronchiectasis, and the use of CT in diagnosing small airway disease. A chapter on functional imaging of the airways is also included.

Difficult To Treat Asthma

Difficult To Treat Asthma
Author: Sandhya Khurana
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2019-08-29
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3030208125

This book provides a practical, stepwise, evidence-based approach to effective management of patients with difficult to treat asthma. The impact of asthma on morbidity and healthcare utilization increases exponentially with severity. Severe refractory asthma accounts for less than 5% of all asthma. Its prevalence, however, is often overestimated as there are several other confounding factors that make asthma ‘difficult to treat’. Many novel (albeit expensive) therapies are now available and providers caring for patients with severe asthma are charged with selecting the best evidence treatment. This calls for complex and nuanced decision-making. Whether people with asthma gain and maintain control over their condition depends not only on the availability of effective drugs, but also multiple patient and healthcare provider behaviors. Therefore, now more than ever, it has become increasingly important to differentiate “difficult” from “severe refractory” asthma to allow identification of patients most likely to benefit from these therapies. This volume delves into the current understanding of mechanisms and increasingly recognized heterogeneity of this complex disease. It discusses a structured approach to identification and optimization of factors contributing to poor asthma control, including nonadherence, comorbidities and occupational/environmental triggers. The book includes ‘state of the art’ reviews on recent advances in traditional and targeted asthma therapies, as well as a glimpse into what the future may hold. Highlights include a comprehensive guide to management of severe asthma in children and pregnancy, as well as practical considerations to management of asthma based on different clinical phenotypes. Each chapter is authored by leading experts in the field who share their own clinical approach. This is an ideal guide for clinical pulmonologists and allergist/immunologists, as well as primary care providers, physician extenders in specialty practice, physicians in pulmonary/allergy training, and even industry partners.

Heterogeneity in Asthma

Heterogeneity in Asthma
Author: Allan R. Brasier
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2014-07-08
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1461486033

Asthma is a chronic relapsing airways disease that represents a major public health problem worldwide. Intermittent exacerbations are provoked by airway mucosal exposure to pro-inflammatory stimuli, with RNA viral infections or inhaled allergens representing the two most common precipitants. In this setting, inducible signaling pathways the airway mucosa play a central role in the initiation of airway inflammation through production of antimicrobial peptides (defensins), cytokines, chemokines and arachidonic acid metabolites that coordinate the complex processes of vascular permeability, cellular recruitment, mucous hyper-secretion, bronchial constriction and tissue remodeling. These signals also are responsible for leukocytic infiltration into the submucosa, T helper-lymphocyte skewing, and allergic sensitization. Currently, it is well appreciated that asthma is a heterogeneous in terms of onset, exacerbants, severity, and treatment response. Current asthma classification methods are largely descriptive and focus on a single aspect or dimension of the disease. An active area of investigation on how to collect, use and visualize multidimensional profiling in asthma. This book will overview multidimensional profiling strategies and visualization approaches for phenotyping asthma. As an outcome, this work will facilitate the understanding of disease etiology, prognosis and/or therapeutic intervention. ​

Severe Asthma

Severe Asthma
Author: Kian Fan Chung
Publisher: European Respiratory Society
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2019-06-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1849841047

Severe asthma is a form of asthma that responds poorly to currently available medication, and its patients represent those with greatest unmet needs. In the last 10 years, substantial progress has been made in terms of understanding some of the mechanisms that drive severe asthma; there have also been concomitant advances in the recognition of specific molecular phenotypes. This ERS Monograph covers all aspects of severe asthma – epidemiology, diagnosis, mechanisms, treatment and management – but has a particular focus on recent understanding of mechanistic heterogeneity based on an analytic approach using various ‘omics platforms applied to clinically well-defined asthma cohorts. How these advances have led to improved management targets is also emphasised. This book brings together the clinical and scientific expertise of those from around the world who are collaborating to solve the problem of severe asthma.

Respiratory Epidemiology

Respiratory Epidemiology
Author: Isabella Annesi-Maesano
Publisher: European Respiratory Society
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2014-09-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1849840539

Over the last decade, the volume of research into the pathophysiology and genetics of pulmonary diseases has increased greatly. This has led to the development of new treatments and therapies for many diseases, including lung cancer, asthma and cystic fibrosis. This issue of the ERS Monograph comprehensively demonstrates the developments in respiratory medicine in recent years. It outlines the importance of epidemiology in respiratory medicine, and will prove a methodological tool that will help disease management. It should also be used as an advocacy tool for the sake of public health.

Personalizing Asthma Management for the Clinician

Personalizing Asthma Management for the Clinician
Author: Stanley J. Szefler
Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2017-09-22
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 032349708X

Personalized medicine is a rapidly emerging area in health care, and asthma management lends itself particularly well to this new development. This practical resource by Dr. Stanley J. Szefler helps you navigate the many asthma medication options available to your patients, as well as providing insights into those which may be introduced within the next several years. - Features a wealth of information on available asthma medications, including new immunomodulators, new responses to treatment, and new treatment strategies at all levels of asthma care. - Prepares you to meet your patients' needs regarding asthma exacerbation prevention and asthma prevention. - Consolidates today's available information and guidance in this timely area into one convenient resource.

MRI of the Lung

MRI of the Lung
Author: Hans-Ulrich Kauczor
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2008-11-12
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 354034618X

During the past decade significant developments have been achieved in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), enabling MRI to enter the clinical arena of chest imaging. Standard protocols can now be implemented on up-to-date scanners, allowing MRI to be used as a first-line imaging modality for various lung diseases, including cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension and even lung cancer. The diagnostic benefits stem from the ability of MRI to visualize changes in lung structure while simultaneously imaging different aspects of lung function, such as perfusion, respiratory motion, ventilation and gas exchange. On this basis, novel quantitative surrogates for lung function can be obtained. This book provides a comprehensive overview of how to use MRI for imaging of lung disease. Special emphasis is placed on benign diseases requiring regular monitoring, given that it is patients with these diseases who derive the greatest benefit from the avoidance of ionizing radiation.

Middleton's Allergy Essentials E-Book

Middleton's Allergy Essentials E-Book
Author: Robyn E O'Hehir
Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2015-12-09
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0323392733

For decades, health care practitioners have relied on Middleton’s Allergy as their go-to reference for comprehensive information on allergic disorders. Now Middleton’s Allergy Essentials, by Drs. Robyn E. O'Hehir, Stephen T. Holgate, and Aziz Sheikh, offers a concise resource that’s both easily accessible and highly authoritative. Perfect for clinicians in primary and secondary care settings, this practical volume covers what is most useful in your daily practice, with a strong emphasis on disease diagnosis and management. A practical approach to evaluation, differential diagnosis, and treatment of allergic disorders, focused specifically on what the non-specialist needs to know for everyday practice. Each chapter begins with a handy summary of key concepts to help you quickly identify important information. Coverage of today’s hot topics includes asthma, drug allergies, food allergies and gastrointestinal disorders, anaphylaxis, atopic dermatitis, and allergic contact dermatitis. Concise sections on mechanisms are included where relevant, keeping you up to date with this rapidly evolving field. Authored by the same internationally recognized experts that produce Middleton’s Allergy, the definitive text in the field. Ideal for physicians, residents, general and family practitioners, nurse practitioners, primary care doctors, hospitalists, general internists – anyone who is called upon to make effective diagnostic and treatment decisions regarding allergic disorders.

Asthma: Pathophysiology, Herbal and Modern Therapeutic Interventions

Asthma: Pathophysiology, Herbal and Modern Therapeutic Interventions
Author: Sheikh Rayees
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 71
Release: 2021-03-26
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3030702707

Asthma is a chronic airway disease affecting over 300 million people worldwide with an expected increase of an additional 100 million by 2025. Past decade has observed a notable increase in asthma prevalence on both national and global levels with highest rates observed in western countries (about 30%). Over the past 40 years, a drastic increase in global prevalence, morbidity, mortality, and economic burden have been observed due to asthma especially in children. The rising numbers of hospital admissions for asthma, especially young children, reflect an increase in severe asthma, poverty and lack of proper disease management. Worldwide, approximately 180,000 deaths annually are caused due to this condition. The financial burden on a single asthma patient per year in different western countries ranges from US$300–1,300. Asthma is an intricate respiratory disorder with differences in its severity, natural history and hence treatment response. These differences in intensities of various presentations such as bronchial hyper-responsiveness, airway inflammation, mucus production, airflow obstruction make asthma a heterogeneous disease. The mainstay of current therapies for asthma includes inhaled corticosteroids, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, leukotriene modifiers and β2-adrenoceptor agonists. Some of the currently available drugs are efficient in one or more aspects. However the associated side effects or heterogeneity of the disease limit their usefulness and efficacy, thereby putting a demand on development of new drugs and therapies. On the other hand, asthma has also been treated/managed via herbal medications. These approaches have been described in Unani, Ayurvedic or Chinese system of medicine since antiquity. In fact, several anti-asthmatic drugs were developed from herbs commonly utilized in the non-Western system of medicine. This book focuses on the pathophysiology of asthma, its medication (both herbal and modern), limitations and their future prospects.

Precision Approaches to Heterogeneity in Asthma

Precision Approaches to Heterogeneity in Asthma
Author: Allan R. Brasier
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2023-07-18
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3031322592

Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease that causes substantial morbidity and has been challenging to treat due to its heterogeneous onset, environmental triggers, severity, and treatment response. To update the field on the rapid advances in this field, Precision Approaches to Heterogeneity in Asthma follows its highly successful predecessor, Heterogeneity in Asthma. In this new volume, noted authorities Allan R Brasier and Nizar N Jarjour and a cadre of leaders in the field incorporate new work advancing our understanding of phenotypes (endotypes) of disease, regional variations in ventilation, systems approach to analyzing the findings from studies of inducible phenotypes, and emerging results of biomarker-informed clinical trials. This work will facilitate our current understanding of the spectrum of disease etiology, prognosis, and the likelihood of responding to the range of available therapeutic interventions.