Pulmonology & Critical Care

1. Inhaled steroids are the cornerstone of therapy for persistent asthma - NHLBI EPR3 Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma

2. BAL is the diagnostic procedure to exclude opportunistic infection in an apparent acute exacerbation of IPF - Guidelines

3. In patients with moderate COPD, therapy with LABA or a long-acting anticholinergic agent improves quality of life and pulmonary function compared with therapy with short-acting bronchodilators alone - Update on the Management of COPD

4. In a patient with low risk for malignancy no follow-up is required for an incidentally noted pulmonary nodule 4 mm or smaller - Fleischner Society Guidelines

5. Patients with ICU acquired weakness have diffuse, flaccid weakness and often present with difficulty with ventilator weaning - ICU Acquired Weakness

6. Either VQ scanning or CT angiogram is an appropriate noninvasive test to diagnose acute PE - CT vs VQ scanning in patients with suspected PE

7. Nontraumatic causes of rhabdomyolysis include drug use, metabolic disorders, and infections - reference

8. Diuretic therapy for heart failure can result in either a protein or LDH discordant exudative pleural effusion and, rarely, a concordant exudate - pleural effusions in heart failure

9. Laryngoscopy during an exacerbation of vocal cord dysfunction shows adduction of the vocal cords during inspiration - reference

10. Pulmonary rehab in patients with advanced lung disease can increase exercise capacity, decrease dyspnea, improve quality of life, and decrease health care utilization - pulmonary rehabilitation

11. Up to 30% of patients with dermatomyositis and polymyositis present with single-organ involvement of the lungs indistinguishable from idiopathic interstitial lung disease - Occult connective tissue diseases mimicking idiopathic interstitial pneumonia

12. Pleural plaques are focal, often partially calcified, fibrous tissue collections on the parietal pleura and are a marker of asbestos exposure - Aberle DR. CT of asbestos-related pulmonary parenchymal and pleural disease. Clin Chest Med. 1991; 12(1): 115-131.

13. No drug is FDA-approved for the treatment of delirium, but clinical practice guidelines recommend antipsychotic agents, such as haloperidol - review of pharmacological management of delirium

14. Excessive sleepiness that persists despite positive airway pressure therapy may be due to poor adherence with treatment - Practice parameters for BiPAP in sleep disorders

15. Carcinoid tumors are neuroendocrine tumors with an indolent growth pattern that often present with endobronchial obstruction - ESMO recommendation for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up

16. A patient with tuberculous pleural effusions typically presents with a lymphocyte-predominant exudative effusion; however, within the first 1 to 2 weeks, neutrophils can predominiate as the cellular response evolves from neutrophils to lymphocytes - Diagnosis and treatment of tuberculous effusion

17. The response to inhaled bronchodilators is more predictive of the clinical course in a patient with asthma than initial physical examination and findings - NHLBI EPR3 Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma

18. Malignant hyperthermia is an inherited skeletal muscle disorder characterized by a hypermetabolic state precipitated by exposure to volatile inhalational anesthetics and the depolarizing muscle relaxants - Fever in levodopa withdrawal

19. Inhaled steroids are safe and effective in pregnant patients with asthma - Asthma in pregnancy

20. COP most often presents with subacute disease progression and bilateral opacities on chest radiograph - Diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases