No abstract

The impact of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on the airway responsiveness of asthmatic subjects with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has scarcely been studied.A prospective study was performed comparing the changes in airway responsiveness and quality of life in stable asthmatic OSA patients, before and 6 weeks after their nocturnal CPAP treatment.A total of 20 subjects (11 males and nine females) participated in the study. With the nocturnal CPAP treatment, the apnoea/hypopnoea index dropped from 48.1¡23.6?h -1 to 2.6¡2.5?h -1. There were no significant changes in airway responsiveness after CPAP treatment (provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1; PC20 2.5 mg?mL -1 (1.4-4.5)) compared with baseline (PC20 2.2 mg?mL -1 (1.3-3.5)). There was no significant change in FEV1 either. However, the asthma quality of life of the subjects improved from 5.0¡1.2 at baseline to 5.8¡0.9 at the end of the study.In conclusion, nocturnal continuous positive airway pressure treatment did not alter airway responsiveness or forced expiratory volume in one second in subjects with stable mild-tomoderate asthma and newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnoea. However, nocturnal continuous positive airway pressure treatment did improve asthma quality of life.

Gray matter hypertrophy and thickening were associated with hypoxemia, respiratory disturbances, and sleep fragmentation. These structural changes in a group of middle-aged and older individuals may represent adaptive/reactive brain mechanisms attributed to a presymptomatic stage of obstructive sleep apnea.

For patients with advanced NSCLC receiving equivalent chemotherapy regimens, shorter treatment delays were associated with shorter survival. We hypothesize that urgent treatment carried a negative prognostic meaning, as this was preferentially offered to patients presenting with a higher symptom burden, which conferred them a worse outcome.