Effects of creative dance on functional capacity, pulmonary function, balance, and cognition in COPD patients: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Exercise training is key to the comprehensive management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Creative dance can be an innovative approach as effective as traditional exercise training. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate effect of creative dance-based exercise (CDE) training on functional capacity, postural stability and balance, pulmonary and cognitive functions, respiratory and peripheral muscle strength in COPD patients. METHODS: Twenty-four patients with COPD were randomly allocated to either "chest physiotherapy and home-based walking program" (PT) or "CDE alongside home-based chest physiotherapy group" (PT+CDE). Both groups performed chest PT program twice a day for 5 days per week for 8 weeks. PT+CDE group received CDE training 2 days a week for 8 weeks. Primary outcome was six minute walk test (6MWT). Secondary outcomes were postural stability and balance, pulmonary function, maximum inspiratory (MIP) and expiratory (MEP) pressure, peripheral muscle strength, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), COPD Assessment Test (CAT), and BODE index. Outcome measures were assessed at baseline and after 8 weeks of training. RESULTS: Both groups showed statistically significant improvements in 6MWT distance, MIP, MEP, MoCA score, CAT, and BODE index (p < 0.05). Only with CDE training was achieved improvements in postural stability and balance scores, pulmonary function, and peripheral muscle strength (p < 0.05). The improvements in 6 MWT distance, MEP, MoCA score, and CAT were greater in PT+CDE group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Use of creative dance training in addition to home-based chest PT program was more effective than chest PT program regarding primary and secondary outcomes in COPD patients.

One-year follow-up evaluation of radiological and respiratory findings and functional capacity in COVID-19 survivors without comorbidities.

The aim of this study was to assess clinical findings, radiological data, pulmonary functions and physical capacity change over time and to investigate factors associated with radiological abnormalities after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in non-comorbid patients. This prospective cohort study was conducted between April 2020 and June 2020. A total of 62 symptomatic in non-comorbid patients with COVID-19 pneumonia were included in the study. At baseline and the 2nd, 5th and 12th months, patients were scheduled for follow-up. Males represented 51.6% of the participants and overall mean age was 51.60 ±â€…12.45 years. The percentage of patients with radiological abnormalities at 2 months was significantly higher than at 5 months (P < .001). At 12 months, dyspnea frequency (P = .008), 6-minute walk test (6MWT) distance (P = .045), BORG-dyspnea (P < .001) and BORG-fatigue (P < .001) scores was significantly lower, while median SpO2 after 6MWT (P < .001) was significantly higher compared to results at 2 months. The presence of radiological abnormalities at 2 months was associated with the following values measured at 5 months: advanced age (P = .006), lung involvement at baseline (P = .046), low forced expiratory volume in 1 second (P = .018) and low forced vital capacity (P = .006). Even in COVID-19 patients without comorbidities, control computed tomography at 2 months and pulmonary rehabilitation may be beneficial, especially in COVID-19 patients with advanced age and greater baseline lung involvement.

Investigation of drug-related problems in patients hospitalized in chest disease wards: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), chest diseases are among the 10 diseases that cause the highest mortality worldwide. Drug-related problems (DRPs), readmission, and antimicrobial resistance are critical problems in chest disease wards. Active involvement of clinical pharmacists (CPs) who are focused on reducing the risks of potential problems is needed. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of pharmaceutical care (PC) services on the pulmonology service. Method: A randomized controlled trial at a university hospital in Istanbul was conducted between June 2020 and December 2021. The participants were randomized into the control group (CG) and intervention group (IG). In the CG, CPs identified and classified the DRPs according to Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe v9.0 (PCNE) and provided solutions to DRPs for the IG. The effect of PC services was evaluated by the number and classification of DRPs, and readmissions within 30 days were compared between the two groups. Results: Out of 168 patients, 82 were assigned to the IG. The average number of medicines administered per patient in the CG and IG was 14.45 ± 7.59 and 15.5 ± 6.18, respectively. In the CG and IG, the numbers of patients with DRPs were 62 and 46, respectively. The total number of DRPs was 160 for CG and 76 for IG. A statistically significant difference was found in favor of the IG, in terms of the number of patients with DRPs, the total number of DRPs, and readmission within 30 days (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, CP recommendations were highly accepted by the healthcare team. Pharmaceutical care services provided by CPs would decrease possible DRPs and led to positive therapeutic outcomes. Cognitive clinical pharmacy services have beneficial effects on health care, and these services should be expanded in all settings where patients and pharmacists are present.

COVID-19 infection in a membranous nephropathy patient treated with rituximab.

While COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect our country and most countries in the world, we have to make some changes both in our social life and our approach to healthcare. We have to struggle with the pandemic on one hand and also try to follow up and treat our patients with chronic diseases in the most appropriate way. In this period, one of our group of patients who are challenging us for follow-up and treatment are those who should start or continue to use immunosuppressive therapy. In order to contribute to the accumulation of knowledge in this area, we wanted to report a patient who was followed up with the diagnosis of COVID-19 and had been administered rituximab very recently due to a nephrotic syndrome caused by membranous nephropathy.

Relationship of CTLA4 and CD28 polymorphisms with lung involvement, HRCT findings and pulmonary function tests in Turkish patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a multisystem disorder with ocular, pulmonary, and cardiovascular involvement. The incidence of pulmonary involvement varies from 1 to 52%. Abnormal T-cell function-derived immune responses are involved in AS pathogenesis. Numerous genes such as CTLA4 and CD28 control T-cell functions. In this study, we aimed to address the relationship between CTLA4 and CD28 polymorphisms and lung involvement in Turkish patients with AS. METHODS: A cross-sectional evaluation of 80 healthy and 89 AS subjects with no active infection or malignancy was performed to determine the relationship between pulmonary involvement and CTLA4 and CD28 gene polymorphisms. All patients were assessed for clinical, radiological, and spirometric findings. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and independent-sample t-tests were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: All patients with the CD28 CC genotype (n = 4) had abnormal HRCT, but it was not significant (p = 0.47). All of the normal HRCT patients have CD 28 T alleles. In addition to this data ; 4 patients who have not any T alleles have abnormal HRCT finding. It was significant and was considered that T genotype have protective effect (p= 0,047) on radiologic involvement but no other association was found between CTLA4 and CD28 gene polymorphism with respect to pulmonary function tests (PFT), diffusion capacity, and clinical characteristics in the Turkish patients with AS. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest a possible association of CTLA4 and CD28 variants with AS pulmonary involvement. Furthermore, these results may lead to the development of new therapeutic agents to control more aggressive forms of the disease. However, further studies are needed in larger populations.