Two cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease evaluated by dynamic-ventilatory digital radiography for pulmonary function and assessment of treatment efficacy.

Spirometry is a crucial test used in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic has posed numerous challenges in performing spirometry. Dynamic-ventilatory digital radiography (DR) provides sequential chest radiography images during respiration with lower doses of radiation than conventional X-ray fluoroscopy and computed tomography. Recent studies revealed that parameters obtained from dynamic DR are promising for evaluating pulmonary function of COPD patients. We report two cases of COPD evaluated by dynamic-ventilatory DR for pulmonary function and treatment efficacy and discuss the potential of dynamic DR for evaluating COPD therapy.

Randomized Phase III Study of Continuation Maintenance Bevacizumab With or Without Pemetrexed in Advanced Nonsquamous Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: COMPASS (WJOG5610L).

PURPOSE: Patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have been shown to benefit from maintenance therapy. COMPASS evaluated the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab with or without pemetrexed as continuation maintenance therapy after carboplatin, pemetrexed, and bevacizumab induction therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with untreated advanced nonsquamous NSCLC without confirmed EGFR 19 deletion or L858R mutation received first-line therapy with carboplatin area under the curve 6, pemetrexed 500 mg/m2, and bevacizumab 15 mg/kg once every 3 weeks for 4 cycles. Patients without disease progression during the induction therapy were randomly assigned 1:1 for maintenance therapy with pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 plus bevacizumab 15 mg/kg or bevacizumab 15 mg/kg once every 3 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary end point was overall survival (OS) after random assignment. RESULTS: Between September 2010 and September 2015, 907 patients received induction therapy. Of those, 599 were randomly assigned: 298 received pemetrexed plus bevacizumab, and 301 received bevacizumab. The median OS was 23.3 v 19.6 months (hazard ratio [HR], 0.87; 95% CI, 0.73 to 1.05; 1-sided stratified log-rank P = .069). In the wild-type EGFR subset, the OS HR was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.68 to 0.99; 1-sided unstratified log-rank P = .020). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.7 v 4.0 months (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.57 to 0.79; 2-sided log-rank P < .001). The safety data were consistent with previous reports of treatment regimens. CONCLUSION: In terms of the primary end point of OS, no statistically significant benefit was observed; however, PFS in the total patient population and OS in patients with wild-type EGFR was prolonged with the addition of pemetrexed to bevacizumab maintenance therapy.

The prevalence and clinical features of asthma-COPD overlap (ACO) definitively diagnosed according to the Japanese Respiratory Society Guidelines for the Management of ACO 2018.

Background Asthma-COPD overlap (ACO) is a disease that shares clinical features of both asthma and COPD. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence and clinical features of ACO. Methods We retrospectively reviewed data for 170 patients with persistent airflow limitation and diagnosed them according to "The Japanese Respiratory Society Guidelines for the Management of ACO 2018". Results Of the 170 patients, 111 were diagnosed as follows : COPD (74 patients, 66.6%), ACO (34 patients, 30.6%), and asthma (3 patients, 2.8%). There was no significant difference in clinical features between ACO and COPD patients. The following pulmonary function tests were significantly lower in ACO than in COPD patients : forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity, peak expiratory flow, maximal mid-expiratory flow, and the maximum expiratory flow at 50%and75%. The following respiratory impedance parameters were significantly higher in ACO than in COPD patients : respiratory resistance (Rrs) at 5 Hz (R5), Rrsat 20 Hz (R20), R5-R20, and low-frequency reactance area. Conclusions About 30% of patients with persistent airflow limitation were diagnosed with ACO. ACO patients had lower lung function and higher respiratory impedance compared with COPD patients. J. Med. Invest. 66 : 157-164, February, 2019.