Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the most prevalent respiratory problem in the world. Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have a higher prevalence of smoking and recurrent lung infections and are at higher risk of COPD. Objective: To determine the prevalence of COPD in HIV-diagnosed patients referred to an infectious diseases hospital. Method: Individuals with HIV infection without previous or ongoing antiretroviral treatment, with chronic respiratory symptoms, with or without a history of exposure for the development of COPD were included. Pre-and post-bronchodilation spirometry, high-resolution computed tomography, viral load determination and CD4 count were carried out. Spirometry measurements were compared with Wilcoxon's test. Results: Sixty-six HIV-diagnosed patients, with a mean age of 31.5 years were included; 64 were males and two females. The prevalence of COPD was 7.6 %. The group with obstruction had a lower CD4 count (27.3 versus 225.9) and higher viral load (165,000 versus 57,722), in comparison with the group without obstruction. A positive correlation was observed between lower viral load and higher forced expiratory volume in 1 second/ forced vital capacity ratio. Conclusion: HIV-positive patients with a lower CD4 count and a higher viral load show a decrease in spirometry values.

The screening tool proposed in this study has the advantages of being quick, inexpensive, easy to apply and reproducible, and the result has reliability with acceptable sensitivity; this is a symptom-based questionnaire with good predictive ability and it will avoid unnecessary sleep studies in the subjects who are not at high risk for having OSA.

<b>Background:</b> Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) has been shown to be the most appropriate therapy for COPD patients with chronic respiratory failure. While physiological parameters and long-term outcome frequently serve as primary outcomes, very few studies have primarily addressed the impact of NIV initiation on sleep quality in COPD. <b>Methods:</b> This single-center prospective cohort study comprised NIV-naïve patients with COPD. All patients underwent polysomnographic evaluation both at baseline and at 3 months follow-up, accompanied by the assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQL) using the Severe Respiratory Insufficiency Questionnaire (SRI) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). A subgroup evaluation was performed to address the impact of comorbid obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). <b>Results:</b> Forty-six patients were enrolled and twenty-five patients completed the follow-up period (66.7 ± 7.4 years). NIV resulted in an increase in slow-wave sleep (+2% (-3.5/7.5), <i>p</i> = 0.465) and rapid eye movement sleep (+2.2% (-1.0/5.4), <i>p</i> = 0.174), although no statistical significance could be detected. ESS (-1.7(-3.6/0.1), <i>p</i> = 0.066) also showed a positive trend. Significant improvements in the Respiratory Disturbance Index (RDI) (-12.6(-23.7/-1.5), <i>p</i> = 0.027), lung function parameters, transcutaneous PCO₂ and the SRI summary scale (4.5(0.9/8), <i>p</i> = 0.016) were observed. <b>Conclusions:</b> NIV therapy does not decrease sleep quality and is even capable of improving HRQL, transcutaneous PaCO₂, daytime sleepiness and RDI, and the latter especially holds true for patients with comorbid OSAS.

Introducción: La enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica (EPOC) es el problema respiratorio de mayor prevalencia en el mundo. Los pacientes con infección por virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) tienen mayor prevalencia de tabaquismo e infecciones pulmonares recurrentes y mayor riesgo de EPOC. Objetivo: Determinar la prevalencia de la EPOC en pacientes con diagnóstico de VIH referidos a un hospital de infectología. Método: Se incluyeron individuos con infección por VIH sin tratamiento antirretroviral previo o actual, con sintomatología respiratoria crónica, con o sin antecedentes de exposición para desarrollar EPOC. Se realizó espirometría pre y posbroncodilatación, tomografía computarizada de alta resolución, determinación de carga viral y conteo de CD4. Las mediciones espirométricas se compararon con prueba de Wilcoxon. Resultados: Se incluyeron 66 pacientes con diagnóstico de VIH, con edad de 31.5 años; 64 hombres y dos mujeres. La prevalencia de EPOC fue de 7.6 %. El grupo con obstrucción presentó menor conteo de CD4 (27.3 versus 225.9) y mayor carga viral (165 000 versus 57 722), en comparación con el grupo sin obstrucción. Se observó correlación positiva entre menor carga viral y mayor relación de volumen espiratorio forzado al primer segundo/capacidad vital forzada. Conclusión: Los pacientes VIH-positivos con menor conteo de CD4 y mayor carga viral presentan disminución de los valores espirométricos.

<b>Background:</b> It is not well-known if diagnosing and treating sleep breathing disorders among individuals with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) improves health outcomes. We evaluated the association between receipt of laboratory-based polysomnography (which is the first step in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep breathing disorders in Ontario, Canada) and respiratory-related hospitalization and all-cause mortality among individuals with IPF. <b>Methods:</b> We used a retrospective, population-based, cohort study design, analyzing health administrative data from Ontario, Canada, from 2007 to 2019. Individuals with IPF were identified using an algorithm based on health administrative codes previously developed by IPF experts. Propensity score matching was used to account for potential differences in 41 relevant covariates between individuals that underwent polysomnography (exposed) and individuals that did not undergo polysomnography (controls), in order minimize potential confounding. Respiratory-related hospitalization and all-cause mortality were evaluated up to 12 months after the index date. <b>Results:</b> Out of 5044 individuals with IPF identified, 201 (4.0%) received polysomnography, and 189 (94.0%) were matched to an equal number of controls. Compared to controls, exposed individuals had significantly reduced rates of respiratory-related hospitalization (hazard ratio [HR] 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24–0.75), <i>p</i> = 0.003) and all-cause mortality (HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.30–0.80), <i>p</i> = 0.004). Significantly reduced rate of respiratory-related hospitalization (but not all-cause mortality) was also observed among those with &#x3e; = 1 respiratory-related hospitalization (HR 0.38, 95% CI 0.15–0.99) and systemic corticosteroid receipt (HR 0.37, 95% CI 0.19–0.94) in the year prior to the index date, which reflect sicker subgroups of persons. <b>Conclusions:</b> Undergoing polysomnography was associated with significantly improved clinically-important health outcomes among individuals with IPF, highlighting the potential importance of incorporating this testing in IPF disease management.