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Bishop CT. Case report: Three adult brothers with cystic fibrosis (delF508-delF508) maintain unusually preserved clinical profile in the absence of standard CF care. Respir Med Case Rep 2021; 33:101413. [PMID: 34401261 PMCID: PMC8348530 DOI: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2021.101413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
We present three cases in this report. Three adult brothers, homozygous for the delF508 cystic fibrosis mutation, have maintained an unusually preserved clinical condition even though they did not attend a CF Clinic during their childhood, do not attend a CF Clinic now, and do not follow standard CF care guidelines. The brothers use an alternative CF treatment regimen on which they have maintained normal lung function, height/weight, and bloodwork, and they utilize less than half the recommended dosage of pancreatic enzymes. The brothers culture only methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, and have never cultured any other bacteria. Highly effective modulator therapies, such as elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor, do not substantially reduce infection and inflammation in vivo in CF patients, and thus these three case reports are of special note in terms of suggesting adjunct therapeutic approaches. Finally, these three cases also raise important questions about standard CF care guidelines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clark T Bishop
- Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, Provo, UT, 84602, United States
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Shah NM, Kaltsakas G. Telemedicine in the management of patients with chronic respiratory failure. Breathe (Sheff) 2021; 17:210008. [PMID: 34295411 PMCID: PMC8291909 DOI: 10.1183/20734735.0008-2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Patients with chronic respiratory failure are often required to attend multiple hospital appointments, which may be difficult due to their physical disabilities and the amount of equipment they are required to bring. Their caregivers often struggle with the lack of immediate care available when the patient suffers difficulties at home. Telemedicine is an opportunity to bridge the gap between home and healthcare professionals by allowing the healthcare team to reach into patients' homes to provide more frequent support. The evidence for the use of telemedicine in patients with chronic respiratory failure remains equivocal. Although the uptake of telemedicine has been slow, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in the rapid dissemination of telemedicine to allow the delivery of care to vulnerable patients while reducing the need for their attendance in hospital. Logistical and legal challenges to the delivery of telemedicine remain, but the pandemic may serve as a driver to ameliorate these challenges and facilitate wider use of this technology to improve the experience of patients with chronic respiratory failure. Educational aims To provide an overview of the rationale for delivering care via telemedicine for patients with chronic respiratory failure.To provide the evidence base for establishing a telemedicine service.To highlight the potential opportunities and challenges in delivering a telemedicine service for patients with chronic respiratory failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neeraj M Shah
- Lane Fox Respiratory Service, St Thomas' Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.,Lane Fox Clinical Respiratory Physiology Centre, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.,Centre for Human and Applied Physiological Sciences (CHAPS), King's College London, London, UK
| | - Georgios Kaltsakas
- Lane Fox Respiratory Service, St Thomas' Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.,Lane Fox Clinical Respiratory Physiology Centre, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.,Centre for Human and Applied Physiological Sciences (CHAPS), King's College London, London, UK
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Thee S, Stahl M, Fischer R, Sutharsan S, Ballmann M, Müller A, Lorenz D, Urbanski-Rini D, Püschner F, Amelung VE, Fuchs C, Mall MA. A multi-centre, randomized, controlled trial on coaching and telemonitoring in patients with cystic fibrosis: conneCT CF. BMC Pulm Med 2021; 21:131. [PMID: 33882893 PMCID: PMC8058751 DOI: 10.1186/s12890-021-01500-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The extend of lung disease remains the most important prognostic factor for survival in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), and lack of adherence is the main reason for treatment failure. Early detection of deterioration in lung function and optimising adherence are therefore crucial in CF care. We implement a randomized controlled trial to evaluate efficacy of telemonitoring of adherence, lung function, and health condition in combination with behavior change interventions using innovative digital technologies. Methods This is a multi-centre, randomized, controlled, non-blinded trial aiming to include 402 patients ≥ 12 years-of-age with CF. A standard-of-care arm is compared to an arm receiving objective, continuous monitoring of adherence to inhalation therapies, weekly home spirometry using electronic devices with data transmission to patients and caring physicians combined with video-conferencing, a self-management app and professional telephone coaching. The duration of the intervention phase is 18 months. The primary endpoint is time to the first protocol-defined pulmonary exacerbation. Secondary outcome measures include number of and time between pulmonary exacerbations, adherence to inhalation therapy, changes in forced expiratory volume in 1 s from baseline, number of hospital admissions, and changes in health-related quality of life. CF-associated medical treatment and care, and health care related costs will be assessed by explorative analysis in both arms. Discussion This study offers the opportunity to evaluate the effect of adherence interventions using telemedicine capable devices on adherence and lung health, possibly paving the way for implementation of telemedicine in routine care for patients with CF. Trial registration: This study has been registered with the German Clinical Trials Register (Identifier: DRKS00024642, date of registration 01 Mar 2021, URL: https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00024642). Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12890-021-01500-y.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Thee
- Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Immunology and Critical Care Medicine, Division of Cystic Fibrosis, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mirjam Stahl
- Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Immunology and Critical Care Medicine, Division of Cystic Fibrosis, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), Associated Partner, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Sivagurunathan Sutharsan
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Division of Cystic Fibrosis, University Medicine Essen -Ruhrlandklinik, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Manfred Ballmann
- Department of Pediatrics, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Franziska Püschner
- Private Institute for Applied Health Services Research (Inav) GmbH, Berlin, Germany
| | - Volker Eric Amelung
- Private Institute for Applied Health Services Research (Inav) GmbH, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Marcus Alexander Mall
- Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Immunology and Critical Care Medicine, Division of Cystic Fibrosis, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany. .,German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), Associated Partner, Berlin, Germany. .,Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
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