Association of musculoskeletal involvement with lung function and mortality in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease associated with high mortality. Low muscle mass, frailty and sarcopenia lead to functional impairment that negatively impact quality of life and survival but are not used in clinical practice. We aimed to determine the association of Fat-free mass index (FFMI) and frailty with lung function, exercise tolerance and survival in patients with IPF. In this study, 70 patients with IPF underwent assessment of body composition, lung function, 6-min walk distance (6MWD) testing, hand grip strength, quality of life (QoL) assessment by St. George's Respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ) and frailty assessment using the SHARE-FI tool. FFMI was calculated using pectoralis muscle cross-sectional area (PM-CSA) on CT chest images and the lowest quartile defined reduced muscle mass. Sarcopenia was defined as low FFMI and handgrip strength. Regression analyses were conducted to determine predictive value of frailty, low FFMI and sarcopenia on clinical outcomes. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the impact of FFMI and frailty score on survival. The mean age was 70 years with moderate impairment in lung function (mean ppFVC 68.5%, ppDLCO 45.6%). Baseline forced vital capacity (p < 0.001), diffusion capacity of lung for carbon monoxide (p = < 0.01), 6WMD (p < 0.05) were significantly lower in frail patients compared to non-frail patients. BMI was found to closely correlate with FFMI (r = 0.79, p < 0.001), but not with frailty score (r = - 0.2, p = 0.07). Frailty was a significant predictor of FVC, DLCO, 6MWD, SGRQ scores when adjusted for age and gender. Muscle mass and sarcopenia were significant predictors of FVC, DLCO, but not 6MWD or QoL scores. Multivariate cox-proportional hazards ratio model adjusting for age and gender showed that frailty was significantly associated with increased mortality (HR = 2.6, 95% CI 1.1-6.1). Low FFMI (HR = 1.3, 95% CI 0.6-2.8), and sarcopenia (HR = 2.1, 95% CI 0.8-5.3), though associated with a trend to increased mortality, were not statistically significant. Frailty is associated with lower lung function and higher mortality in patients with IPF. Longitudinal evaluations are necessary to further determine the associations between low FFMI, sarcopenia and frailty with outcomes in IPF.

Impact of Intravascular Brachytherapy on Patient-Reported Outcomes in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

BACKGROUND: Intravascular brachytherapy (VBT) is an established treatment for the management of in-stent restenosis (ISR). However, whether VBT is associated with improved patient reported outcomes unknown. METHODS: We evaluated 51 consecutive patients undergoing VBT in one or more coronary arteries from January 2018 to September 2019. Data on baseline characteristics, procedural outcomes and adverse events were obtained. All patients completed the Seattle Angina Questionnaire - 7 (SAQ-7) form before and after VBT at 1 month and 6 months. RESULTS: The mean age was 69 ± 9 years and 29 (57%) of patients were males. Procedural success was 94.1%. The mean summary SAQ-7 score improved significantly (53.2 ± 21 vs. 83 ± 19, p < .001) at 30-days. The median Quality of Life (QoL) component of SAQ-7 score was 31.3 (Interquartile Range [IQR]: 18.8, 62.5) and improved to 82.5 (IQR: 62.5, 100), p < .001 at 30 days and 87.5 [IQR: 75, 100), p < .001 at last follow up. Likewise, the median angina frequency component of the SQL-7 score pre-VBT was 55 (IQR: 45, 80) and improved significantly to 90 (IQR: 60, 100) at 30-days, p < .001 and 100 [IQR: 68.8, 100], p = .02 at last follow up. Lastly, the median activity component of the SAQ-7 score improved from 83.3 (IQR: 60-100) to 100 (IQR: 83, 100), p = .01 at 30-days. Thus, results were evident as early as 1 month and sustained at median follow up of 17 months. CONCLUSION: VBT is associated with improvement in patient reported outcome measures at short term and long term follow up.