Multidisciplinary care in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a 4-year longitudinal observational study

Original article
Sukockienė E, Iancu Ferfoglia R, Truffert A, Héritier Barras AC, Genton L, Viatte V, Leuchter I, Escher M, Horie N, Poncet A, Pasquina P, Adler D, Janssens JP
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20258

Benign COVID-19 in an immunocompromised cancer patient -  the case of a married couple

Original article
Spezzani V, Piunno A, Iselin HU
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20246

The findings presented here suggest that the course of COVID-19 is not necessarily ominous in the presence of a compromised immune response and tend to reinforce the emerging therapeutic concepts of a controlled mitigation of the immune cascade following SARS CoV-2 infection.

Kerley B lines in the lung apex – a distinct CT sign for pulmonary congestion

Original article
Loebelenz LI, Ebner L, Obmann VC, Huber AT, Christe A
Swiss Med Wkly. 2019;149:w20119

The assessment of pulmonary congestion remains one of the more difficult routine tasks in chest radiology, and there are few publications concerning signs of pulmonary oedema on computed tomography (CT).

The sensitivity and specificity of the mannitol bronchial challenge test to identify asthma in different populations: a systematic review

Systematic review
Kernen P, Steveling-Klein EH, Saccilotto RT, Raatz H, Briel M, Koller MT, Westwood M, Bucher HC, Miedinger D, Leuppi JD
Swiss Med Wkly. 2019;149:w20100

Several studies have investigated the accuracy of the mannitol test to identify asthma. However, the results from these studies differ substantially.

Chronic rhinosinusitis in unified airway disease: surfactant proteins as mediators of respiratory immunity

Review article: Biomedical intelligence
Noutsios GT, Sharma S
Swiss Med Wkly. 2019;149:w20104

Management of chronic rhinosinusitis and asthma must be jointly carried out as one functional entity.

Health-related quality of life and stress-related post-transplant trajectories of lung transplant recipients: a three-year follow-up of the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study

Original article
Bleisch B, Schuurmans MM, Klaghofer R, Benden C, Seiler A, Jenewein J, Psychosocial Interest Group, Swiss Transplant Cohort Study
Swiss Med Wkly. 2019;149:w20019

Lung transplantation provides a viable option for the survival of end-stage lung diseases. Besides survival as a clinical outcome measure, health-related quality of life and psychological distress have become important study outcomes.

Spirometry and provocation tests for vocal fold dysfunction diagnosis: a retrospective case series

Original article
Taramarcaz P, Seebach JD, Motteli L, Benaïm C, Schwitzguebel AJP
Swiss Med Wkly. 2018;148:w14692

Vocal cord dysfunction is characterised by paradoxical inspiratory laryngeal motion and is often misdiagnosed as asthma. Diagnosis is difficult, because laryngo­scopy is positive only during symptomatic episodes or provocation tests.

Bosentan for patients with steroid-resistant pulmonary sarcoidosis: a randomised controlled trial

Original article
Hostettler K, Baty F, Kleiner R, Junker L, Tamm M, Brutsche M
Swiss Med Wkly. 2018;148:w14677

Sarcoidosis is a disorder of unknown aetiology. It usually responds to steroids, but side-effects and steroid-resistance may require other treatments. Endothelin has in-vitro fibrogenic activity and the endothelin system is activated in sarcoidosis.

Obesity-related respiratory failure: a new area for extracorporeal lung support?

Viewpoint
Giraud R, Bendjelid K, Banfi C
Swiss Med Wkly. 2018;148:w14651

In the ICU, the main challenges with obese patients are to take into account the pulmonary pathophysiological characteristics when choosing the best management options.

Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to treat hypercapnia in a morbidly obese patient

Original article
Lederer H, Stalder M, Tisljar K, Lanzi F, Landmann E, Mosimann T, Zeeh F, Zuercher S, Mosimann V, Spiegel R, Sutter R, Hunziker P
Swiss Med Wkly. 2018;148:w14639

Use of venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation avoids some of the risks associated with intubation and mechanical ventilation. But it is necessary to weigh the risks and benefits before using it in morbid obesity.