Thorax Podcast

The promise of translational and personalised approaches for paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) can result in significant morbidities including the cardiovascular, metabolic and neurocognitive systems. While great advances have been made in sleep medicine research in the past decades, there are still wide gaps in our knowledge concerning the exact underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of OSA and consequences. A recent review in Thorax discusses the recent exciting discoveries in genotype-phenotype interactions, epigenetics, genomics and proteomics related to OSA. Thorax editor Andy Bush talks to co-author David Gozal, professor in the Department of Pediatrics, The University of Chicago, about the highlights.Read the full paper:The promise of translational and personalised approaches for paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea: an ‘Omics’ perspective http://goo.gl/fKf28O

TB special: The ins and outs of interferon-gamma release assays

We are delighted to present a podcast recording of an interview with Professor Ajit Lalvani to coincide with the TB special edition of Thorax in March. He describes the development of the FDA-approved, NICE and CDC-endorsed interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA, ELISpot, T-SPOT.TB) which he invented and validated as the first advance in diagnosis of latent TB in 100-years. He will discuss new findings using this assay published in the March issue of Thorax, and the prospects for improved immunodiagnostics in TB.
Professor Lalvani is a superstar in this field and has contributed greatly to the TB special edition of Thorax. He is the chair of infectious diseases, co-chairman of the Section of Respiratory Infection of the National Heart and Lung Institute, and honorary consultant physician at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, St Mary’s Campus. He is a Wellcome Trust senior clinical research fellow and NIHR senior investigator.
Read the special issue: http://thorax.bmj.com/content/68/3.

Journal club: Surgical resection for stage I and II small cell carcinoma of the lung

Benny Weksler, associate professor of surgery, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, talks to Jennifer Quint, Thorax journal club editor, about surgery for small cell carcinoma of the lung.See also:http://ats.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/94/3/889

Journal club: Raised glucose levels predict death for patients with pneumonia

Jennifer Quint, Thorax’s journal club editor, talks to Philipp Lepper, consultant physician, University Hospital of Saarland, Germany, about his study which revealed glucose levels can predict mortality in patients admitted with community acquired pneumonia.See also:http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e3397

Journal club: The effects of closing schools during an influenza pandemic

Closing schools to restrict the spread of influenza during a pandemic is an idea oftern floated, but what effect does it actually have? Thorax’s Journal Club editor Jennifer Quint asks David Earn, professor of mathematics, McMaster University, what his work on the 2009 H1N1 outbreak in Alberta, Canada reveals.See also:http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1033342

Journal club: Prednisone, azathioprine, and N-acetylcysteine for pulmonary fibrosis

A combination of prednisone, azathioprine, and N-acetylcysteine has been widely used as a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, however the safety and efficacy of this three-drug regimen is unknown. Jennifer Quint, Thorax’s Journal Club editor, talks to Fernando Martinez, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, about the controversy surrounding the question, and what his paper on it reveals.See also:http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1113354

Journal Club: Predicting survival in resected non-small-cell lung cancer

Jennifer Quint, Thorax’s Journal Club editor, talks to David Jablons, University of California San Francisco, and consultant for Life Technologies, about his assay to predict survival in resected non-squamous, non-small-cell lung cancer.See also:http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2961941-7/abstract

Journal Club: Outcomes after thoracoscopic versus open lobectomy

Jennifer Quint, Thorax’s Journal Club editor, talks to Subroto Paul, Division of Thorasic Surgery at New York Presbrytarian Hospital System, about his study comparing short-term postoperative outcomes following open and thoracoscopic lobectomy.See also:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22826474http://thorax.bmj.com/content/early/2012/08/23/thoraxjnl-2012-202521.full

Journal Club: Lung protective mechanical ventilation

Jennifer Quint (Thorax’s journal club editor) talks to Dale Needham (associate professor of medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) about his paper recently published in the BMJ:See also:http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e2124

Non-eosinophilic asthma

Ian Pavord (Thorax editor) talks to Peter Gibson (professor of respiratory medicine, John Hunter Hospital, New South Wales, Australia) about non-eosinophilic asthma, particularly neutrophilic asthma.They discuss the stability of the different inflammatory phenotypes, tools to recognise non-eosinophilic asthma, whether these patients benefit from inhaled steroids, and Professor Gibson’s paper investigating the relationship between H influenzae respiratory infection and neutrophilic asthma.See also:Combined Haemophilus influenzae respiratory infection and allergic airways disease drives chronic infection and features of neutrophilic asthma