ThoraxPub Date : 2026-08-26DOI: 10.1136/thorax-2026-225047
Manuel Kuhn, Christian F Clarenbach, Adrian Kläy, Malcolm Kohler, Diego M Baur, Oliver Senn, Thomas Radtke, Sarah R Haile, Laura C Mayer, Noriane A Sievi, Dario Kohlbrenner
{"title":"Acute cardiorespiratory responses to low-load blood-flow restriction vs high-load resistance exercise in COPD: a randomised crossover trial.","authors":"Manuel Kuhn, Christian F Clarenbach, Adrian Kläy, Malcolm Kohler, Diego M Baur, Oliver Senn, Thomas Radtke, Sarah R Haile, Laura C Mayer, Noriane A Sievi, Dario Kohlbrenner","doi":"10.1136/thorax-2026-225047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/thorax-2026-225047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Dyspnoea is a major barrier to effective pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Low-load blood flow restriction (LL-BFR) resistance exercise may reduce ventilatory demand and dyspnoea burden compared with traditional high-load resistance exercise (HL-TRA). However, its acute physiological and perceptual effects in COPD remain unclear. We compared the acute physiological and perceptual responses to LL-BFR and HL-TRA in patients with COPD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In a randomised crossover trial, 24 patients with moderate to severe COPD performed LL-BFR (30% of one-repetition maximum (1RM); four sets separated by three rest periods) and HL-TRA (70% of 1RM; three sets separated by two rest periods). Ventilation (V̇E), tidal volume (VT), oxygen uptake (V̇O₂), carbon dioxide output (V̇CO₂), heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured throughout. Linear mixed models with participant-level random intercepts were used to compare responses between conditions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>LL-BFR resulted in lower V̇E (-2.2 L/min), VT (-0.08 L), V̇O₂ (-0.04 L/min) and V̇CO₂ (-0.07 L/min) compared with HL-TRA. Heart rate and breathing rate were similar across both conditions. Dyspnoea was significantly reduced (RPE -0.7), while leg effort increased (RPE +0.7). LL-BFR was well tolerated, with no adverse events.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Compared with HL-TRA, LL-BFR was associated with lower ventilatory and metabolic demands and lower perceived dyspnoea despite higher perceived leg exertion. These findings suggest that LL-BFR may represent a useful resistance training strategy for patients with COPD who are primarily limited by dyspnoea during exercise.</p><p><strong>Trial registration number: </strong>NCT05163600.</p>","PeriodicalId":23284,"journal":{"name":"Thorax","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148832628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ThoraxPub Date : 2026-08-25DOI: 10.1136/thorax-2026-225548
Jørgen Vestbo
{"title":"Mucus plugs in COPD: another reason for not losing weight?","authors":"Jørgen Vestbo","doi":"10.1136/thorax-2026-225548","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/thorax-2026-225548","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23284,"journal":{"name":"Thorax","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148819750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ThoraxPub Date : 2026-08-20DOI: 10.1136/thorax-2025-224178
Katelyn M Atkins, Samuel C Zhang, Christopher E Kehayias, Christian Guthier, Katrina D Silos, Olivia Peony, Andrew Warrington, Mina Bakhtiar, Maria Oorloff, Cosmin Ciausu, Asneh Singh, John He, David E Kozono, David C Christiani, Cody Ramin, Anju Nohria, Andriana P Nikolova, Aaron B Waxman, Raymond H Mak
{"title":"Association of pulmonary artery radiation with pulmonary hypertension after lung cancer radiotherapy.","authors":"Katelyn M Atkins, Samuel C Zhang, Christopher E Kehayias, Christian Guthier, Katrina D Silos, Olivia Peony, Andrew Warrington, Mina Bakhtiar, Maria Oorloff, Cosmin Ciausu, Asneh Singh, John He, David E Kozono, David C Christiani, Cody Ramin, Anju Nohria, Andriana P Nikolova, Aaron B Waxman, Raymond H Mak","doi":"10.1136/thorax-2025-224178","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/thorax-2025-224178","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Thoracic radiotherapy (RT) results in pulmonary fibrosis that has been hypothesised to increase the risk of pulmonary hypertension (PH); however, dose effects to cardiopulmonary structures predicting PH have not been systematically studied.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Multi-institutional retrospective cohort analysis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with thoracic RT. The pulmonary arteries (PA), distal pulmonary vasculature, lungs and heart were segmented. Radiotherapy dose parameters (mean, maximum and volume (V) receiving X Gy in 5 Gy increments) were extracted. Area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) analyses estimating PH and Fine-Gray regressions were performed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 848 patients included (n=746 discovery; n=102 validation), 49.9% were women and the median age was 65 years (IQR, 58-73 years). The 2-year cumulative incidence of PH was 11.6%. PA V10 Gy demonstrated the highest AUROC for predicting PH (0.58) and was significantly associated with the risk of PH on multivariable regression adjusting for cardiopulmonary risk factors in the discovery (subdistribution HR (sHR) 1.01; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.02; p=0.013) and validation (sHR 1.03, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.05; p=0.019) cohorts. In those who developed PH after RT (vs PH-negative), moderate or greater tricuspid disease and right ventricular systolic dysfunction (RVSD) were more common (18.7% vs 0.2% (p<0.001) and 3.3% vs 0.2% (p=0.003), respectively).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>PH was common following thoracic RT and associated with PA radiation dose. Patients with PH were more likely to harbour tricuspid disease and RVSD. These hypothesis-generating findings are suggestive that PH following thoracic RT may occur through a pathophysiological process distinct from RT-induced pulmonary fibrosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":23284,"journal":{"name":"Thorax","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148798234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ThoraxPub Date : 2026-08-20DOI: 10.1136/thorax-2026-224765
Hannah Whittaker, Thomas Bolton, Ian Sinha, Liam G Heaney, John Busby, Gwyneth A Davies, Aziz Sheikh, Jennifer K Quint
{"title":"Impact of sex, socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and region on exacerbation rates and mortality of chronic respiratory diseases in England: population-based cohorts.","authors":"Hannah Whittaker, Thomas Bolton, Ian Sinha, Liam G Heaney, John Busby, Gwyneth A Davies, Aziz Sheikh, Jennifer K Quint","doi":"10.1136/thorax-2026-224765","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/thorax-2026-224765","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Inequalities in chronic respiratory diseases persist, yet up-to-date evidence on outcomes remains limited. We described national mortality and exacerbation rates in people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and assessed variation by inequalities.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>England primary care records from the General Practice Extraction Service data for Pandemic Planning and Research were linked to Hospital Episode Statistics and Office for National Statistics mortality data. Cohorts of primary care diagnosed asthma and COPD were defined prior to 1 November 2019. Monthly age-sex-standardised exacerbation rates (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT) and Internationl Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 codes) and mortality rates (ICD-10 codes) were calculated from 1 November 2019 to 31 March 2025, stratified by sex, Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), ethnicity and region.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study included 7644 510 people with asthma and 1 211 975 with COPD. Mean monthly exacerbation rates were higher in females than males (33% and 30% higher for asthma and COPD, respectively), while mean monthly all-cause mortality rates were 13% and 15% higher in males than females. Mean monthly exacerbation and all-cause mortality rates were higher in IMD-1 compared with IMD-10 across all conditions (asthma: 123% and 100% higher, COPD: 68% and 41% higher, respectively). Mean monthly all-cause mortality and exacerbation rates were higher in the northeast than the southwest (asthma: 22% and 69% COPD: 15% and 42% higher, respectively). Outcome rates varied by ethnicity across conditions.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Inequalities in chronic respiratory disease outcomes persist across England despite sustained policy focus on reducing health inequalities.</p>","PeriodicalId":23284,"journal":{"name":"Thorax","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148798285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ThoraxPub Date : 2026-08-18DOI: 10.1136/thorax-2026-225174
Théo Dhote, Clémence Martin, Isabelle Fajac, Frédérique Aubourg, Reem Kanaan, Nicolas Carlier, Isabelle Honoré, Johanna Fesenbeckh, Jennifer Da Silva, Thierry Perez, Pierre-Régis Burgel
{"title":"Persistence of static lung hyperinflation in adults with cystic fibrosis treated with elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor.","authors":"Théo Dhote, Clémence Martin, Isabelle Fajac, Frédérique Aubourg, Reem Kanaan, Nicolas Carlier, Isabelle Honoré, Johanna Fesenbeckh, Jennifer Da Silva, Thierry Perez, Pierre-Régis Burgel","doi":"10.1136/thorax-2026-225174","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/thorax-2026-225174","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study sought to describe the prevalence of lung hyperinflation in adults (≥18 years) with cystic fibrosis (awCF) and the effects of elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor (ETI) on hyperinflation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Consecutive awCF who initiated ETI at Cochin Hospital (Paris, France) and had performed body plethysmography within 12 months prior to ETI initiation were included. Abnormal lung volumes (including total lung capacity (TLC) and residual volume (RV)) were defined as > upper limit of normal (ULN) using the Global Lung Initiative reference values. Lung hyperinflation was defined as RV/TLC>ULN. Variables associated with hyperinflation prior to ETI initiation were identified using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Evolution of hyperinflation was examined by comparing data prior to and after 12 months on ETI.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>Body plethysmography was available prior to ETI initiation in 297 awCF, of which 286 had also body plethysmography at 12 months after ETI initiation. Prior to ETI initiation, TLC, RV and RV/TLC ratio values greater than ULN were found in 14%, 69% and 76% of awCF, respectively. RV/TLC ratio inversely correlated with percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (ppFEV<sub>1</sub>; r=-0.86). Increasing age and the number of days on intravenous antibiotics in the previous year were independently associated with RV/TLC>ULN. RV/TLC decreased after 12 months of ETI (median (IQR) absolute decrease; -5.4 (-10.3 to -0.3) %, p<0.0001; n=286) but remained above ULN in 65% of awCF, including in some with normal ppFEV<sub>1</sub>.</p><p><strong>Interpretation: </strong>Lung hyperinflation usually persists in awCF treated with ETI despite improvement in ppFEV<sub>1</sub> and lung volumes.</p>","PeriodicalId":23284,"journal":{"name":"Thorax","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148798310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ThoraxPub Date : 2026-08-14DOI: 10.1136/thorax-2025-224234
Dominick Shaw, Katie Pink, P Jane McDowell, Tom Fardon
{"title":"Never say die: making a death from asthma a never event.","authors":"Dominick Shaw, Katie Pink, P Jane McDowell, Tom Fardon","doi":"10.1136/thorax-2025-224234","DOIUrl":"10.1136/thorax-2025-224234","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23284,"journal":{"name":"Thorax","volume":" ","pages":"836-837"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147857406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}