There is a need for more randomized studies using patient-oriented outcomes in older adults with COPD.
More than half of randomized patients were taking lipid-lowering agents at baseline.
Follow-up, available for 100 of 106 randomized patients, showed more episodes of occlusion to aspiration in the ion implantation group (47%) than in the control group (39%) but this difference was not significant.
HGG, PWG, BL, MFG, and EPS were responsible for including more than 10% of the randomized patients in their participating hospital.
A sensitivity analysis of progression free survival will be conducted in the per protocol population, if more than 5% of the randomized patients are excluded from the analysis.
More randomized controlled trials involving larger patient samples are warranted to confirm the appropriate dosage and duration of macrolides for non-CF bronchiectasis patients.
In randomized patients, women were older, more likely to have had an infarction within 6 months, more likely to have a history of heart failure, and more likely to have recent angina prior to enrollment than men (P < 0.05).
More randomized controlled trials are needed to answer the question more definitively, particularly in patients with ischemic heart disease.
Registry versus randomized patients were older (median age 61.9 vs 59.0 years, p = 0.002), more frequently had 3-vessel disease (52.4% vs 15.6%, p = 0.0001), and more frequently had lower left ventricular ejection fraction (45% vs 50%, p = 0.002).
More randomized control trials are needed to definitively determine the effect of probiotics in critically ill patients.
