Month: December 2018

Corticosteroids were both beneficial and cost-effective for hospitalized adults with severe CAP. Hospitalized people with non-severe CAP may also benefit from corticosteroid therapy, but with no survival advantage In 2015, results of two randomized trials showed that systemic corticosteroids were beneficial for some hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP; NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 15 2015 and JAMA 2015; 313:677; NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 1 2015 and Lancet 2015; 385:1511). Now, two new meta-analyses — one by the Cochrane Library, and one by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) — address whether CAP patients should receive systemic corticosteroids ... Read more

Home oxygen therapy for COPD: Does it matter whether the patient is hypoxemic? Evidence vs Reality? Long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) is given to improve survival time in people with COPD and severe chronic hypoxemia at rest. The efficacy of oxygen therapy for breathlessness and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in people with COPD and mild or no hypoxemia who do not meet the criteria for LTOT has not been established. Scientific evidence for its benefits of LTOT dates back to the 1980s when two randomized controlled trials showed prolonged survival in COPD-patients undergoing LTOT for at least 15 hours/day. In ... Read more