Now available in its Third Edition, Asthma: Basic Mechanisms and Clinical Management has become "the" reference text in asthma. This highly successful text sheds new light on the basic physiological and molecular mechanisms of asthma, how current treatments work, and how best to apply the latest knowledge to control this important disease. The Third Edition has undergone radical revision and includes several new chapters. It retains the virtues of the previous volumes by bringing together all of the recent research findings by internationally recognized experts on the causative mechanisms of asthma, including in-depth clinical aspects and therapy. The book presents an integrated approach toward the treatment of this disease with new concepts, changes in asthma management, and the development of new therapeutic agents. Asthma provides extensive references for researchers and clinicians who need to keep abreast of recent developments in this rapidly expanding field.
Key Features
* Comprehensive coverage of both basic science and clinical aspects of asthma
* Extensively referenced throughout

This book is intended as a comprehensive, practically oriented reference on pulmonary hypertension within the context of adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). After an introductory chapter on pathophysiology, the various types of pulmonary hypertension that may be encountered in ACHD are discussed, highlighting the specifics observed within different patient categories. The diagnostic approach is then addressed in detail, and the last section of the book is devoted to management options, from conservative approaches to interventional treatment and the concept of treat and repair. Management in specific patient subjects, such as pregnant women, Fontan patients, and Down syndrome patients with Eisenmenger syndrome, is fully discussed, and guidance is also provided on palliative care. Pulmonary arterial hypertension related to congenital heart disease (PAH-CHD), despite significant similarities in lung pathohysiology, differs significantly from other types of PAH in terms of mechanism of onset, natural history and management. Mistakes and pitfalls in the management of patients with PAH-CHD are often related to a lack of knowledge or expertise in this condition. Pulmonary Hypertension in Adult Congenital Heart Disease will be a valuable resource and learning tool for all who care for patients with ACHD, both in tertiary practice and general cardiology.

Asthma is a disease that affects the lungs. It causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and nighttime or early morning coughing. Tens of millions of people throughout the world suffer from asthma. Airways are the paths that carry air to the lungs. As the air moves through the lungs, the airways become smaller, like branches of a tree. During an attack, the sides of the airways in the lungs become inflamed and swollen. Muscles around the airways tighten, and less air passes in and out of the lungs. Excess mucus forms in the airways, clogging them even more. The attack, also called an episode, can include coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and trouble breathing. Environmental exposures, such as house dust mites and environmental tobacco smoke, are important triggers of an attack. This new book presents important new research on the causes on asthma as well as its diagnosis and treatment.

This book explores the unique aspects involved in the management of ECMO patients such as physiopathology and indications, setting up the device, monitoring ECMO and the patient, troubleshooting, ethical aspects and rehabilitation. For the past eight years, management of acute heart failure and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) patients has been improved by the development of short-term assistance devices, with ECMO as a first line treatment. This highly informative book provides essential insights for ICU nurses at ECMO centers around the world, who face the substantial challenges involved in the management of ECMO patients. Above all, it meets their training needs with regard to bedside monitoring for these patients, which has become a major issue. The editors and most of the contributors serve at La Pitie-Salpetriere ICU, France, which, in terms of the number of admissions and major publications produced, is one of the world's leading authorities on ECMO.

The book comprehensively reviews and provides detailed insight into the cellular and molecular signalling mechanisms involved in pathophysiology of various respiratory diseases, towards developing effective therapeutic strategies in the management and treatment of lung disease. It also covers promising advances in the field of therapeutics that could lead to novel clinical therapies capable of preventing or reversing the disease features including novel strategies for targeting chronic lung diseases using advanced drug delivery systems. Importantly, the book examines the significance and relevance of the plant extracts and their constituents with therapeutic efficiencies against lung diseases. As such, the book offers a blend of translational, biological, chemical, and drug delivery aspects relevant to respiratory diseases, thus, offering a valuable resource for pulmonologists and translational researchers working in the field of pulmonary biology and respiratory medicine.

Lung ventilation is driven by a complex neural regulatory network, and apart from conditions typically observed during a disease state, it is sensitive to functional dysregulation. This book focuses on a wide variety of pulmonary topics including inflammation, infection, cancerogenesis, hypoxia, and stress. The chapters deal with the pathophysiologic background of processes and mechanisms whereby abnormal or undesired conditions develop and progress. The exemplary topics concern the genotyping of mutations involved in the development of lung cancer, which helps target molecular anticancer therapy, or the advances in computed tomography technology employed in pulmonary diagnostics. Functional cardio-respiratory changes associated with a particular disease or resulting from disease, or dysautonomic state due to affective disorder or hypokinesia of spaceflight microgravity also are tackled. The book is intended for medical researchers and clinicians, notably pulmonologists, internists, family doctors, and all interested in this exciting area of science.

The 2nd edition of this book describes the recent techniques, strategies, and drugs that have been demonstrated by multicenter randomized trials to influence survival in critically ill, defined as those who have acute failure of at least one organ, due to either a pathological condition or a medical intervention, and require intensive care treatment. Each chapter focuses on a specific procedure, device, or drug. The scope is accordingly wide, with coverage of topics as diverse as noninvasive mechanical ventilation, protective ventilation, prone positioning, intravenous salbutamol in ARDS, high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, mild hypothermia after cardiac arrest, daily interruption of sedatives, tranexamic acid, diaspirin cross-linked hemoglobin, albumin, growth hormone, glutamine supplementation, tight glucose control, supranormal oxygen delivery, and hydroxyethyl starch in sepsis. The topics selection was performed with the help of hundreds of specialists from dozens of countries; they expressed via web if they agreed or not with these topics and if they used them in their daily clinical practice. The clear text is supported by "how to do" sections and "key point" boxes that provide easily accessible practical information. Written by acknowledged international experts, Reducing Mortality in Critically Ill Patients is of interest for a wide variety of specialists, including intensivists, emergency doctors, and anesthesiologists.

This book is a comprehensive guide to our current understanding of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), its disease pathogenesis, genetic underpinnings, diagnosis, and management. Since the first edition, many new developments have occurred in the understanding and management of this serious disease, revising our understanding of how it presents, manifests, and reacts to certain treatments. This second edition is fully updated with six new chapters by our team of international, expert authors. New topics include: classification of interstitial lung disease, pulmonary function tests in IPF, biomarkers, clinical phenotypes, mimics, and a discussion of clinical trials. Each chapter additionally includes a brief summary of ongoing research and potential future directions. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide, Second Edition is an invaluable resource for clinicians who desire a deeper understanding of IPF in order to better help their patients.

From epidemiology and pathogenesis to disease management, this book reviews our current understanding of and provides up-to-date information of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). A subtype of Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias (IIP), IPF is one of the most elusive and intractable respiratory disease to date and its triggering factors remain unclear. However, new developments such as serum markers that are highly specific to IPF (i.e. KL-6, SP-A, and SP-D), the establishment of systematic diagnostic imaging (HRCT) and accumulated reports of treatment using an antifibrotic agent (pirfenidone) are slowly improving our understanding of the disease. Edited by an established authority in the field and written by experts, this book will be valuable to not only to beginning learners but also to physicians, instructors and researchers whose work involves IIPs. With each chapter exploring critical questions, with unresolved issues and future prospects, the book offers a valuable resource for understanding issues such as the newly proposed entity of interstitial pneumonia with emphysema (combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema: CPFE) and the mechanism of how so many IIP sufferers develop lung cancer.

This book provides an overview of the latest experimental work on sex-based differences in lung function and inflammation. Readers will learn how these differences relate to individual predispositions for the development of lung disease in men and women, and in different stages of their reproductive lives. Further, the book focuses on diseases that predominantly affect women or men, with an emphasis on the physiological mechanisms underlying their pathobiology. In turn, these findings are complemented by chapters on recent studies, which investigate how circulating sex hormone levels impact the lung's innate immune response to environmental agents and air pollution. The pathogeneses of asthma and viral respiratory infection are also major focus areas. As an outlook, the book also discusses current and future research directions aimed at developing sex-specific therapies for lung disease. To examine these anatomical and physiological differences in the male and female respiratory systems, the authors employ a broad range of methods from molecular and clinical biology. Accordingly, the book will be a fascinating read for physiologists and clinicians alike.

This work contains updated and clinically relevant information about tuberculosis. It is aimed at providing a succinct overview of history and disease epidemiology, clinical presentation and the most recent scientific developments in the field of tuberculosis research, with an emphasis on diagnosis and treatment. It may serve as a practical resource for students, clinicians and researchers who work in the field of infectious diseases.

Mechanical ventilation is an essential life-sustaining therapy for many critically-ill patients. As technology has evolved, clinicians have been presented with an increasing number of ventilator options as well as an ever-expanding and confusing list of terms, abbreviations, and acronyms. Unfortunately, this has made it extremely difficult for clinicians at all levels of training to truly understand mechanical ventilation and to optimally manage patients with respiratory failure. Mechanical Ventilation was written to address these problems. This handbook provides students, residents, fellows, and practicing physicians with a clear explanation of essential physiology, terms and acronyms, and ventilator modes and breath types. It describes how mechanical ventilators work and explains clearly and concisely how to write ventilator orders, how to manage patients with many different causes of respiratory failure, how to "wean" patients from the ventilator, and much more. Mechanical Ventilation is meant to be carried and used at the bedside and to allow everyone who cares for critically-ill patients to master this essential therapy.

A comprehensive examination of TB. CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award 1998. The dramatic story of tuberculosis is told here in a straightforward and accessible style. It presents the stories of persons connected with the disease, either as victims, or as those who made contributions to our knowledge of it; in addition to these personal accounts, the book unfolds the history and explains the pathogenesis of TB. The re-emergence of tuberculosis as a major American public health hazard has focused much attention on this ancientdisease. This book offers a comprehensive account of the disease from prehistoric times through to the present day, detailing the attempts to eradicate it completely. Its four separate sections [the spread of tuberculosis; its infectious nature; susceptibility to it; and methods of treatment] are linked through the device of presenting individuals' particular experience of the disease, whether as as victims, or as those who made contributions to our knowledge of it; in between these vignettes, the book unfolds the history and explains the pathogenesis of TB. A detailed medical glossary completes the volume. Thomas M. Daniel is Emeritus Professor of Medicine and International Health and Director of the Center for International Health at Case Western Reserve University.

Written by internationally recognized leaders in hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) research and practice, this exciting new book provides evidence-based, practical, useful information for anyone involved in HBOT. It outlines the physiologic principles that constitute the basis for understanding the clinical implications for treatment and describes recent advances and current research, along with new approaches to therapy. This book is an essential tool for anyone who cares for patients with difficult-to-heal wounds, wounds from radiation therapy, carbon monoxide poisoning, and more. Provides comprehensive coverage of pathophysiology and clinically relevant information so you can master the specialty. Covers the relevance of HBOT in caring for diverse populations including critical care patients, infants and pediatric patients, and divers. Features a section on the technical aspects of HBOT to provide insight into the technology and physics regarding HBO chambers. Presents evidence to support the effectiveness of HBOT as well as the possible side effects. Describes situations where HBOT would be effective through indication-specific chapters on chronic wounds, radiation and crush injuries, decompression sickness, and more.

British Medical Association Book Awards 2009 - First Prize Winner, Radiology Category Featuring a practical, clinical approach - and written in a quick-access style - this portable, economical reference helps you build a strong foundation in chest x-ray interpretation. Three radiologists with years of clinical and teaching experience present fundamental principles and key anatomical concepts.walk you through examples of classic chest x-ray features that provide subtle evidence of abnormality.and explore a variety of problems and dilemmas common to everyday clinical practice. High-quality drawings and digital chest x-rays - combined with secrets from the radiologists' toolbox, helpful differential diagnoses, handy checklists, and key references - deliver all the assistance you need to enhance your interpretation skills. Provides a strong foundation of essential knowledge for an informed, systematic approach to accurate chest x-ray interpretation. Features the work of three radiologists who offer you the benefit of their many years of clinical and teaching experience. Emphasizes common errors and misdiagnoses to help ensure correct image readings. Presents step-by-step guidance in a bulleted, quick-access format, in short chapters focused on clinical problems, to make it easy to master the information that you need to know. Makes difficult anatomic concepts easier to grasp by pairing radiographs with color line drawings. Explains the nomenclature special to the field through a glossary of important terms. Highlights the most important concepts in diagnosis/interpretation via Key Points in each chapter.

This book addresses an unmet need in the care of adolescents and young adults with lung disease. The increasing survival of young adults with childhood-onset pulmonary conditions is a testament to major advances in treatments and health care delivery. With the increase in survival of children with chronic respiratory conditions, there is a need for formalized transition programs to integrate adolescents and young adults into the adult model of care. This book helps fill gaps in knowledge to best achieve that initiative. This book takes a comprehensive approach to transition care in pulmonary medicine by satisfying the following objectives: 1) Understand the barriers and developmental challenges in the transition from pediatric to adult care for patients with chronic childhood-onset pulmonary disease; 2) Learn about successful evidence based transition models in pulmonary disease populations, focusing on key process and outcome measures for success; and 3) Develop knowledge to design, implement, and measure a transition program based on evidence and expert opinion. In the first section, the book outlines general principles of transition care that are applicable to all patients regardless of underlying disease process and describe best practices for performing necessary research in transition care. In the second section, the book explores psychosocial factors known to play a role in affecting transition outcomes, including parental support, psychological development, and socioeconomic factors. In the final section, transition outcomes and best practices in specific respiratory diseases are outlined. With a focus on populations with chronic pulmonary disease, this book highlights the challenges and barriers of transition, reviews model systems to understand the essential components of a transition program, and provides evidence-based information to navigate these barriers and achieve successful outcomes during transition to adulthood. This is an ideal guide for pediatric and adult pulmonary providers caring for patients who are transition age, as well as multidisciplinary care team members who work with these providers in care models on transition projects to improve the transition process.

Diseases of the Sinuses: A Comprehensive Textbook of Diagnosis and Treatment, 2nd Edition, offers the definitive source of information about the basic science of the sinuses and the clinical approach to sinusitis. Since the widely praised publication of the first edition, understanding of sinus disease has changed dramatically, mainly as a result of recent developments and new discoveries in the field of immunology. This updated and expanded edition is divided into sections addressing, separately, the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, medical and surgical management of acute and chronic rhinosinusitis. Special entities such as autoimmune-related sinusitis, allergy and sinusitis, and aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease are discussed in separate chapters. The role of immunodeficiency is also addressed. The management section has been fully updated to incorporate new medical modalities and surgical procedures.Developed by a distinguished group of international experts who share their expertise and insights from years of collective experience in treating sinus diseases, the book will appeal to anyone who has an interest in sinus disease, including both physicians and allied health professionals. Internists, pediatricians, allergists, otolaryngologists and infectious disease specialists will find the book to be an invaluable, comprehensive reference. Physician assistants and nurse practitioners who work with specialists who treat sinus disease will also benefit from the book."

Worldwide, infectious disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In developing countries, infection accounts for a substantial proportion of all recorded deaths. Likewise, in developed countries, pneumonia alone results in a large number of deaths. Along with bacteria, parasites and rickettsial organisms, viruses are responsible for many of the infections afflicting the human host. In the past decade alone, viruses that primarily target the lung have caused major respiratory illnesses including outbreaks of severe adult respiratory distress syndrome (SARS) and H1N1 influenza. This book is distinctive in that the entire spectrum of viral disease of the lung is conveniently compiled within a single volume. The epidemiologic, ultrastructural, immunologic, clinical and histopathologic features of well-known viral pathogens and newer emergent infectious agents are discussed. The book is organized in a classic fashion, starting with introductory material and sections on lung defenses and the taxonomic classification of pneumotropic viruses. The various acute viral pneumonias are then considered in a standard format in the main body of the book. Subsequent sections are devoted to the human immunodeficiency virus, viral lung disease in children and other viral-linked tumoral and nontumoral lung conditions. A chapter is also included on animal lung diseases caused by viruses. The text is supplemented by numerous color images.