Background: Triple inhaled therapy (ICS/LABA/LAMA) is widely recommended for managing COPD in patients with persistent symptoms or frequent exacerbations. However, variability in trial designs, populations, and pharmacologic formulations complicates direct comparison between regimens.
Objective: To evaluate the comparative performance of three triple therapies, FF/VI/UMEC, BUD/FOR/GLY, and BDP/FOR/GLY, using a multidimensional comparative decision analysis (MCDA) across key clinical domains.
Hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterised by persistent hypereosinophilia associated with organ damage. Due to its rarity and heterogeneity in its clinical presentation, HES remains underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, often leading to delayed diagnosis and irreversible organ damage. The complexity of HES diagnosis is even more complicated due to the absence of standardised criteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Research Question: We aimed to assess whether levels of digital biomarkers can reflect monthly patterns of asthma control.
Study Design And Methods: We performed a longitudinal study on patients with asthma and comorbid rhinitis who filled ≥26 days of data in a month in the MASK-air® app and who reported at least 1 day of treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid with or without a long-acting β-agonist (ICS ± LABA). We applied k-means cluster analysis to define clusters of months according to daily asthma control and medication use.
Background: Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome currently represents a major unmet need for all medical specialties dealing with this disease. Markers capable of characterising the wide variability of its clinical presentation are currently lacking.
Objective: This study aims to evaluate a panel of possible markers in idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome.
: Hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) to iodinated contrast media (ICM), both immediate and non-immediate, pose clinical challenges despite using low-osmolality agents. This review aims to summarize current diagnostic approaches, cross-reactivity patterns, and the debated role of premedication. : A narrative review was conducted using PubMed (2014-2024), selecting studies on ICM-related HSRs, focusing on skin and in vitro testing, drug provocation tests (DPTs), cross-reactivity, and premedication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years, it was recognized that type-2 inflammation connects nasal polyposis and severe asthma (SA) in addition to other type-2 diseases. Thus, some biological drugs developed for SA appeared to exert a favourable effect also in nasal polyposis. So far, there are several trials supporting this concept; therefore, some monoclonal antibodies already used for SA were assessed also in chronic rhinosinusistis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP), with promising results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This real-world study evaluates the improvement in asthma control, drug burden reduction, and physical and mental health in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma treated with biologicals.
Methods: We enrolled 127 patients with severe eosinophilic asthma from two centers, treating them with add-on biological therapy. The asthma control test (ACT) and the Short-form Health Survey-12 (SF-12), including Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS), were used, assessing drug history at baseline (T0) and after 32 weeks of biological therapy (T1).
Introduction: The manifestations of asthma are influenced by the dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which results in elevated vagal tone within the airways. Acetylcholine (ACh) plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of asthma through its interaction with muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs). Consequently, using mAChR antagonists to counteract the actions of ACh is scientifically sound.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Adherence to rhinitis treatment has been insufficiently assessed. We aimed to use data from the MASK-air mHealth app to assess adherence to oral antihistamines (OAH), intra-nasal corticosteroids (INCS) or azelastine-fluticasone in patients with allergic rhinitis.
Methods: We included regular European MASK-air users with self-reported allergic rhinitis and reporting at least 1 day of OAH, INCS or azelastine-fluticasone.
The management of patients with overlapping asthma and bronchiectasis requires a tailored approach, starting with a comprehensive assessment of the patient's clinical profile, including the severity of asthma and the extent of bronchiectasis. Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are often recommended, but their use should be carefully monitored because of the risk of increased infection. If asthma is well controlled and bronchiectasis remains stable, a gradual reduction in the dose of ICS may be considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Patient perception of treatment effectiveness is key to optimizing adherence. This is potentially impacted by color, yet no such studies have been conducted in asthma. This study assessed the influence of pink vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Intern Med
October 2024
Introduction: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently have cardiovascular comorbidities, increasing the risk of hospitalised COPD exacerbations (H-ECOPDs) or death. This pragmatic study examined the effects of adding an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) to long-acting bronchodilator(s) (LABDs) in patients with COPD and cardiac comorbidities who had a recent H-ECOPD.
Methods: Patients >60 years of age with COPD and ≥1 cardiac comorbidity, within 6 months after discharge following an H-ECOPD, were randomised to receive LABD(s) with or without ICS, and were followed for 1 year.
J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
October 2024
Background: A nudge intervention against Herpes Zoster, created and implemented in Italy, is presented in order to administer the Shingrix vaccine on a sample of frail patients, as required by the National Prevention Plan. Individual and contextual factors associated with vaccine adherence were investigated.
Method: 300 frail adult subjects underwent a full vaccine cycle with recombinant-Shingrix vaccine (RZV vaccine).
Objective: Patients' perceptions of asthma symptoms, and attitudes regarding diagnosis and management, can affect their ability to reach good asthma control. The aim of the study was to explore patients' perceptions of asthma management, with focus on treatment with oral corticosteroids (OCS).
Methods: A DOXAPHARMA survey was conducted.
J Dermatolog Treat
December 2023
Dupilumab has been shown to be a safe and effective drug for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) in children from 6 months to 11 years in randomized clinical trials. Aim: The aim of this real-life study was to determine the effectiveness in disease control and safety of dupilumab at W52 in moderate-to-severe AD children aged 6-11 years. All data were collected from 36 Italian dermatological or paediatric referral centres.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
December 2023
J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
December 2023
Biomarkers for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with rhinitis and/or asthma are urgently needed. Although some biologic biomarkers exist in specialist care for asthma, they cannot be largely used in primary care. There are no validated biomarkers in rhinitis or allergen immunotherapy (AIT) that can be used in clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMASK-air , a validated mHealth app (Medical Device regulation Class IIa) has enabled large observational implementation studies in over 58,000 people with allergic rhinitis and/or asthma. It can help to address unmet patient needs in rhinitis and asthma care. MASK-air is a Good Practice of DG Santé on digitally-enabled, patient-centred care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
April 2023
Clin Transl Allergy
November 2022
Digital health is an umbrella term which encompasses eHealth and benefits from areas such as advanced computer sciences. eHealth includes mHealth apps, which offer the potential to redesign aspects of healthcare delivery. The capacity of apps to collect large amounts of longitudinal, real-time, real-world data enables the progression of biomedical knowledge.
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