National data on asthma characteristics and the factors associated with uncontrolled asthma seem to be necessary for every country. For this purpose, we developed the Turkish Adult Asthma Registry ...

The computerized respiratory sound analysis systems provide vital information concerning the current condition of the lung. These systems, used by physicians for the diagnosis of diseases, help to classify respiratory sounds. Because each physician has different knowledge and experience, there is a problem with diagnosing and treating respiratory system diseases. This study will help the physician to decide in various difficult diagnostic situations easily. For this purpose, different machine learning classifiers and feature extraction models have been constituted to classify respiratory sounds as healthy and patient then its results were compared. In this study, Empirical Mode Decomposition, Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients, and Wavelet Transform methods are used for feature extraction, while k Nearest Neighbor, Artificial Neural Networks, and Support Vector Machines are used for classification. The best accuracy was 98.8% by using combination Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient and k Nearest Neighbor methods.

Non-COVID hospital admissions decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic and follow-up of people in the lung cancer risk group was delayed. There are not enough studies on the effects of the pandemic period on the diagnosis of lung cancer. In this study, it was aimed to determine the characteristics of patients diagnosed with lung cancer in the pre-pandemic and pandemic period and to investigate the effects of the pandemic on the diagnosis of lung cancer. Patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer 16 months before and after the detection of the first COVID-19 case were retrospectively analyzed for their characteristics at the time of diagnosis. Age, gender, pathological diagnosis, distant organ metastasis status, and also pathological stages at the time of diagnosis of the patients were analyzed. Two hundred forty-six patients were included in the study. One hundred forty-five of the patients were diagnosed in the pre-pandemic period and 101 during the pandemic period. Mean age of patients was 64.24 years and 91.87% were male. Pathological diagnosis distributions were similar in the pre-pandemic group and the pandemic period group. Distant organ metastases were present in 59.31% of the pre-pandemic group and 65.35% of the pandemic group. There was no significant difference in terms of the stages of the patients at the time of diagnosis. Number of patients diagnosed with lung cancer during the pandemic period was lower. The characteristics of the patients were similar. These results may have resulted from the decrease in applications to health institutions due to social isolation and fear of COVID-19 infection, and limitations in accessing health services.

Background: Bronchiectasis is a chronic lung disease characterized by permanent bronchial wall dilatation. Although it has been known as an orphan disease, it has recently gained attention because of registry -based studies and drug research. Aims: We aimed to use a multicenter database to analyze and compare data regarding the etiology, associated comorbidities, microbiological characteristics, and preventive strategies of bronchiectasis in T & uuml;rkiye to those of other countries. Study Design: A multicenter prospective cohort study. Methods: The multicenter, prospective cohort study was conducted between March 2019 and January 2022 using the Turkish Adult Bronchiectasis Database, in which 25 centers in T & uuml;rkiye participated. Patients aged > 18 years who presented with respiratory symptoms such as cough, sputum, and dyspnea and were diagnosed with non -cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis using computed tomography were included in the study. Demographic information, etiologies, comorbidities, pulmonary functions, and microbiological, radiological, and clinical data were collected from the patients. Results: Of the 1,035 study participants, 518 (50%) were females. The mean age of the patients was 56.1 +/- 16.1 years. The underlying etiology was detected in 565 (54.6%) patients. While postinfectious origin was the most common cause of bronchiectasis (39.5%), tuberculosis was identified in 11.3% of the patients. An additional comorbidity was detected in 688 (66.5%) patients. The most common comorbidity was cardiovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchiectasis was identified in 19.5% of the patients. The most commonly detected microbiological agent was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (29.4%). Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) were used in 70.1% of the patients, and the frequency of exacerbations in the last year was significantly higher in patients using ICS than in nonusers (p < 0.0001). Age [odds ratio (OR): 1.028; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.005-1.051], cachexia (OR: 4.774; 95% CI: 2,054-11,097), high modified medical research council dyspnea scale score (OR: 1,952; 95% CI: 1,459-2,611), presence of chronic renal failure (OR: 4,172; 95% CI: 1,249-13,938) and use of inhaled steroids (OR: 2,587; 95% CI: 1,098-6,098) were significant risk factors for mortality. Mortality rates were higher in patients with COPD than in those with no COPD (21.7-9.1%, p = 0.016). Patients with bronchiectasis and COPD exhibited more frequent exacerbations, exacerbation -related hospitalizations, and hospitalization in the intensive care unit in the previous year than patients without COPD. Conclusion: This is the first multicenter study of bronchiectasis in T & uuml;rkiye. The study results will provide important data that can guide the development of health policies in T & uuml;rkiye on issues such as infection control, vaccination, and the unnecessary use of antibiotics and steroids.

Background: Following COVID-19 infection, some patients acquired lung injury and fibrosis. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by lung fibrosis. Both post-COVID lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis cause loss of respiratory function and involvement of the lung parenchyma. We aimed to compare respiratory related functional characteristics and radiological involvement between post-COVID lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: A single center, cross-sectional study was applied. Patients with post-COVID lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis included in the study. All patients underwent the 6-minute walk test, as well as the Borg and MRC scales. Radiological images were evaluated and scored for lung parenchymal involvement. The impact of post-COVID lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on respiratory functions of were compared. The relationship of functional status and radiological involvement, as well as the effect of potential confounding factors were investigated. Results: A total of 71 patients were included in the study. Forty-eight (67.6%) of the patients were male and the mean age was 65.4 ± 10.3 years. Patients with post-COVID lung injury had greater 6-minute walk test distance and duration, as well as higher oxygen saturations. The MRC and Borg dyspnea scores were comparable. At radiologic evaluation, ground glass opacity scores were higher in patients with post-COVID lung injury, whereas pulmonary fibrosis scores were higher in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. However, the total severity scores were similar. While pulmonary fibrosis score was found to have a negative correlation with 6-minute walk test distance, test duration, and pre- and post-test oxygen saturation levels, there was a positive correlation with oxygen saturation recovery time and MRC score. There was no relationship between ground glass opacity and the functional parameters. Conclusions: Despite having equal degrees of radiological involvement and dyspnea symptom severity, PCLI patients exhibited higher levels of functional status. This might be due to different pathophysiological mechanisms and radiological involvement patterns of both diseases.

Background: Lung cancer is a malignancy marked by low treatment response rates and poor survival outcomes, despite significant advancements in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. This study aims to examine the impact of dietary habits and physical activity levels on chemotherapy response and survival in patients diagnosed with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Methods: Patients diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer and scheduled to receive platinum-based chemotherapy as the initial treatment were included in the study. Sociodemographic and cancer-related characteristics were documented. At the beginning of treatment, the patients’ dietary habits and physical activity levels were evaluated using the “Mediterranean Diet Adherence Scale,” the “International Physical Activity Questionnaire,” and the “Food Consumption Frequency Form,” while their average daily step count was calculated. The study investigated the relationships between dietary habits and physical activity levels with treatment response, 6-month survival, progression-free survival, and chemotherapy-related side effects. Results: The study included a total of 37 patients, 35 of whom were male, with a mean age of 63.49 years. The 6-month survival rate among these patients was 81.1%. In terms of treatment response, 35.1% of patients experienced disease progression, 54.1% demonstrated partial regression, and 8.1% achieved complete regression. Notably, the 6-month survival rate was significantly higher in minimally physically active patients compared to inactive patients (p = 0.022). Furthermore, patients adhering to the Mediterranean diet exhibited a significantly higher 6-month survival rate compared to those who did not follow the diet (p = 0.019). High adherence to the Mediterranean diet was also associated with a significantly lower incidence of chemotherapy-related gastrointestinal side effects (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that physical activity and adherence to the Mediterranean diet positively impact 6-month survival and reduce the incidence of chemotherapy-related side effects.