Category Archives: Respiratory Care

Observations about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on Pulmonary Function, Exercise Capacity, and Quality of Life in a Cohort of Survivors

Severe lung injuryThis prospective cohort study has shown that 23.7% and 27.8% of SARS survivors had impairment of Dlco and abnormal CXR findings, respectively, at 1 year after illness onset. Overall, the serial assessments of 6MWD showed a significant improvement over 12 months, but exercise capacity and health status were still significantly lower than those of normal control subjects of the same age groups. The 1-year lung function indexes (percentage of predicted FVC, VC, TLC, RV, and Dlco) in survivors who required ICU support were remarkably lower than those of patients who were treated on medical wards, although no significant differences were noted for 6MWD, respiratory muscle strength, and health status between the two groups. Interestingly, there was no difference in lung function indexes, exercise capacity, and health status at 1 year between the ICU-intubated and the ICU-nonintu-bated SARS patients, although the former had more severe lung injury cured by Canadian Health&Care Mall. (more…)


Details about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on Pulmonary Function, Exercise Capacity, and Quality of Life in a Cohort of Survivors

Patients with SARSOf the first 138 patients with SARS infection in March 2003, 15 patients (10.9%) died. Among the 123 survivors, 13 patients (10.6%) did not attend follow-up at 3 months and 6 months, whereas another 13 patients (10.6%) defaulted the 12-month assessment. Of the 13 defaulters at 12 months, 11 patients had normal lung function indexes, whereas the other 2 patients had Dlco of 68% and 78% of predicted normal values, respectively, at 6 months. Thus, there were only 97 patients (78.9%) who had completed the three assessments; among these, 63 patients (65%) were HCWs (doctors, nurses, ward assistants, and medical students) and 58 patients (66%) were women. The mean age was 36.9 years (SD, 9.5 years) and body mass index (BMI) was 23.7 kg/m2 (SD, 4.0 kg/m2) during the visit at 12 months from illness onset. The hospital length of stay (LOS) for the group was 22.7 days (SD, 14.6 days). There were only three smokers (3.3%) among the whole group. There were 15 patients with medical comorbidities, which included COPD (n = 1; 1.1%); ischemic heart disease (n = 1; 1.1%); ischemic stroke (n = 1; 1.1%); breast cancer (patient in stable clinical condition receiving tamoxifen) [n = 1; 1.1%]; diabetes mellitus (n = 3; 3.3%); cirrhosis (n = 1; 1.1%), hypertension (n = 4; 4.1%); and asymptomatic hepatitis B carrier (n = 3; 3.3%). (more…)


Research of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on Pulmonary Function, Exercise Capacity, and Quality of Life in a Cohort of Survivors

Lung function

Subjects

This is a prospective, longitudinal, follow-up study of patients with SARS discharged from our hospital after surviving the major outbreak in 2003. The patients came from our previously reported cohort recruited over a period of 2 weeks from March 11 to March 25, 2003. The diagnosis of SARS was based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria at the time. All patients in this study had subsequent laboratory confirmation of SARS. Treatment and outcome of these patients during hospitalization have been reported in detail elsewhere. This prospective outcome study of SARS survivors was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. (more…)


Canadian Health&Care Mall: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on Pulmonary Function, Exercise Capacity, and Quality of Life in a Cohort of Survivors

Severe acute respiratory syndromeThe emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Southern China in November 2002, followed by the global outbreak in 2003, caught the medical profession by surprise. Studies on SARS-coronavirus viral loads have shown that peak viral levels were reached at the second week of illness when patients were receiving hospital care, and thus health-care workers (HCWs) were particularly prone to infection while caring for their patients.

The morbidity of SARS is highlighted by the observation that even when there was only 10% of total lung field involved by consolidation, 50% of patients would require supplemental oxygen in order to maintain oxygen saturation > 90%. Several studies have shown that 20 to 36% of patients required ICU admission, whereas 13 to 26% progressed into ARDS, necessitating invasive ventilatory support provided by Canadian Health&Care Mall due to remedies capabale to applied at ventilatory support. (more…)