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Dec 2015 DOI 10.14302/issn.2379-8572.joa-15-807
Simoncini DanielaCorresponding author
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Insubria c/o Ospedale Filippo del Ponte, Varese, Italy
Upper and lower airway disease is a common condition. Its prevalence is increasing in different areas of the world, but, at present, non-allergic rhinitis is underestimated. The aim of this study was to investigate FeNO (fractional exhaled nitric oxide) and nasal cytology in allergic and non-allergic patients, in order to reach a correct diagnosis. This study was performed on 120 children with rhinitis and/or asthma, evaluated by an allergist and an otolaryngologist. Skin prick-test and nasal cytology were tested in all patients; FeNO only in the asthmatic ones. The proportion of positive results in nasal cytology was higher in non-allergic than in allergic children: 22 out of 23 patients, vs 91 out of 97 patients. A significant correlation was found between FeNO levels and increase in nasal eosinophil counts. There is compelling evidence of a close relationship between upper and lower airway in asthma and rhinitis. The presence of rhinitis should always be investigated in children with asthma; therefore, FeNO and nasal cytology have clinical benefit both in allergic and non-allergic children. Our finding also supports the use of nasal cytology to evaluate non-allergic rhinitis (NAR).
Jun 2026 DOI 10.14302/issn.2642-9241.jrd-26-6332
de Melo PhilipCorresponding author
Respiratory diseases remain a major contributor to hospital morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly among elderly patients and individuals with severe pulmonary compromise. Accurate prediction of respiratory mortality is clinically important for triage, resource allocation, ICU utilization, and early intervention. Traditional statistical models frequently demonstrate limited predictive sensitivity because respiratory mortality is influenced by complex interactions among demographic, diagnostic, physiologic, and severity-related variables. In this study, a machine learning framework was developed to predict in-hospital mortality among patients with respiratory disease using administrative and clinically derived variables, including age, sex, length of stay (LOS), diagnostic descriptions, risk of mortality and severity scores. A Random Forest classifier with balanced class weighting was developed and implemented to address nonlinear relationships and class imbalance within the dataset. Initial modeling demonstrated good overall discrimination performance, with receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (ROC-AUC) values approaching 0.84; however, mortality recall remained limited because deceased patients represented a minority class within the original dataset. To improve mortality detection, a physiologically informed synthetic augmentation strategy was developed. Synthetic clinical variables included oxygen saturation, ICU status, ventilator support, sepsis status, systolic blood pressure, creatinine, and lactate levels. Conditional physiologic consistency rules were incorporated during augmentation to preserve clinically plausible relationships among respiratory failure, hemodynamic instability, and organ dysfunction. The augmented dataset substantially improved model sensitivity and balanced mortality classification performance. Final model evaluation demonstrated strong predictive capability, achieving approximately 97% classification accuracy with balanced precision and recall across mortality classes. Confusion matrix analysis revealed marked reduction in false-negative mortality predictions compared with baseline modeling approaches. Feature importance analysis identified physiologic instability markers, respiratory severity classifications, LOS, and diagnostic respiratory categories as dominant predictors of mortality. These findings suggest that hybrid simulation-augmented machine learning frameworks may provide a valuable strategy for respiratory mortality analytics, particularly in datasets with limited real-world mortality prevalence and incomplete physiologic representation.
Jan 2024 DOI 10.14302/issn.2642-9241.jrd-23-4809
Kadiatou SamakeCorresponding author
Introduction People living with HIV (PLHIV) are susceptible to developing non- communicable chronic respiratory diseases. Our objective was to study the spirometric profile of this population. Material and methods This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional retro-prospective study conducted from March 15 to June 15, 2022 and relating to the analysis of the medical files of asymptomatic and eligible for spirometry PLHIV, aged 18 years and above. They were received in the voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centres of one of the two pulmonology departments in Abidjan. Results The study involved 54 subjects including 22 men (40.7%) and 32 women (59.3%) with an average age of 48.9 years. The majority of patients were non-smokers (81.4%) and the main history was pulmonary tuberculosis (35.2%). Only 29.6% had chronic respiratory symptoms and 42.6% had a normal BMI. The frequency of spirometric abnormalities was 57.4%. These spirometric abnormalities included 40.7% peripheral obstructive pattern; 9.3% restrictive pattern; 3.7% asthma and 3.7% COPD. A more than 10 years duration of HIV infection (p=0.001 OR= 0.2 (0.1 – 0.7)) and a duration of ART of at least 10 years (p=0.001 OR= 0, 2 (0.1 – 0.7)) were significantly associated with the existence of ventilatory abnormalities. Conclusion The high frequency of ventilatory anomalies in PLHIV independently of the existence of chronic respiratory signs leads us to propose spirometry in the follow-up assessment of PLHIV while paying particular attention to those on ARVs for more than 10 years.
Oct 2021 DOI 10.14302/issn.2692-1537.ijcv-21-3951
kaur BaljinderCorresponding author
Dept of Pediatrics, Government Medical College, Rajindra Hospital, Patiala..
This article has been retracted on July 20, 2022. VIEW THE RETRACTION NOTICE (https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2692-1537.ijcv-25-5866) In December 2019, a novel coronavirus, now named as SARS-CoV-2, caused a series of acute atypical respiratory diseases in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The disease caused by this virus was termed COVID-19. The virus is transmittable between humans and has caused pandemic worldwide. The number of death tolls continues to rise and a large number of countries have been forced to do social distancing and lockdown. In humans, COVIDs mostly cause respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms. Clinical manifestations range from a common cold to more severe disease such as bronchitis, pneumonia, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, multi-organ failure and even death. Preliminary evidence suggests children are just as likely as adults to become infected with SARS-CoV-2 but are less likely to be symptomatic or develop severe symptoms. in our study , we consider the symptomatology , complications and mortality patterns of this disease in children.
Dec 2020 DOI 10.14302/issn.2641-4538.jphi-20-3624
Rutayisire ErigeneCorresponding author
Department of public Health, Mount Kenya University Rwanda Kigali Rwanda
Report has shown that there is an increase of respiratory disease among bars attendants over time whereby in 2011, 32% of bars attendants reported respiratory diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of bar attendants towards second-hand smoke (SHS) at work place in Nyarugenge District, Rwanda. This was a cross-sectional study using mixed methods of both qualitative and quantitative. A total of 384 bar attendants participated in the study. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 while qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Descriptive analysis using frequency and percentages was computed. he qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The majority of respondents (66.4%) were within the age group of 28-37 years, 60.2% of respondents were males, 60.9% of respondents were illiterate, and 57.3% of respondents were single at the time of data collection.The majority (78.6%) of the study respondents knew that Smoking is dangerous to human health. The cited consequences of SHS include air pollution that enter the respiratory system and damage the lungs, dizziness and others. All respondents agreed that people who smoke should not be allowed to smoke in public places. Improving bar attendants’ access to health education on SHS and encouraging continuous and constant exposure would significantly increase the knowledge and attitude levels of bar attendants towards SHS.
Jun 2019 DOI 10.14302/issn.2690-0904.ijoe-19-2792
Neuberger ManfredCorresponding author
Center of Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Wien, Felbigergasse 3/2/18, Austria
In deaths and diseases attributed to tobacco smoke cardiovascular events exceed cancer and respiratory diseases. Second hand smoke promotes the development of arteriosclerosis and can trigger acute changes of endothelial function and blood coagulability. Indoor smoking bans reduced coronary syndrome and myocardial infarction 10-20% within one year and were followed by sustainable decreases of stroke and diabetes. With a smoke-free hospitality industry people recognized tobacco smoke as an air pollutant, smoking in public was denormalized and social acceptance of smoking in front of children and pregnant women decreased also in homes and cars. Combined effects with ambient air pollution are proven for active smoking and suspected for SHS. Contamination with third hand smoke (THS) persists for months in homes and cars, creating secondary pollutants that in some cases are more toxic (e.g. nitrosamines). Remnants found in air, dust, and on surfaces (carpets, wallpapers, upholstery, soft toys) were associated with their metabolites in saliva of children and in urine of nonsmokers residing in homes previously occupied by smokers. In animal experiments effects of THS were found on thrombogenesis, insulin resistance through oxidative stress, on the developing immune system, lipid metabolism and alterations in liver, lung, skin and behavior. Much less is known about health effects for bystanders from the aerosols exhaled during “vaping” of e-cigarettes, but nicotine and other toxins from e-cigarettes are certainly a hazard, which should be prevented by the use of dermal and oral nicotine products, which are safer for nicotine replacement and without risk for bystanders.