Background and Aims: Although the efficacy and safety of omalizumab (OMA) in uncontrolled severe allergic asthma has been demonstrated in several randomised controlled trials (RCTs), information on the treatment in a practice-related setting is limited. Thus, the purpose of this prospective multi-centre study (XCLUSIVE) was to investigate the efficacy, compliance and utilisation of OMA therapy in real-life clinical practice in Germany. Methods: One hundred ninety-five asthmatic patients initiated on antiImmunoglobulin E (IgE) IgE treatment were followed-up for 6 months. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), exacerbation rate, days of absence, asthma symptoms [Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ)], a Global Evaluation of Treatment Effectiveness (GETE) and medication use were assessed. Results: Measured outcome variables improved after a 16-week treatment period with OMA (FEV1 +13.7% predicted P < 0.05, exacerbation rate -74.9% P < 0.0001, days of absence -92.1% P < 0.001, ACQ -43.7% P < 0.0001). Investigators evaluated the effectiveness of OMA by GETE in 78.8% as excellent or good (responder), and in 12.6%/8.6% as moderate/poor or worse (non-responder). Responders demonstrated better improvement of FEV1, exacerbation rate, days of absence, ACQ and reduction of oral corticosteroids compared with non-responders. Conclusion: Results of effectiveness strongly suggest that the efficacy demonstrated in RCTs can be transposed to a clinical practice-related setting.Please cite this paper as: Schumann C, Kropf C, Wibmer T, Rüdiger S, Stoiber KM, Thielen A, Rottbauer W and Kroegel C. Omalizumab in patients with severe asthma: the XCLUSIVE study. Clin Respir J 2012; 6: 215-227.

Objective. To evaluate the usefulness of integrated FDG PET/CT in pulmonary carcinoid tumours. Setting. University hospital. Methods. We studied 13 patients (mean age ± 1 SD, 57 ± 11 years) with pulmonary carcinoid tumours. All patients demonstrated a single pulmonary lesion. Integrated PET/CT scan and surgical resection were performed in all patients. Results. The pulmonary lesion size ranged from 1.1 to 5.0 cm. Final histological diagnosis confirmed 12 typical and one atypical pulmonary carcinoid. Mean

Monitoring of plasma TIMP-4 and to a lesser extent of MMP-2 and TNC levels in PH patients might help to assess the beneficial effects of PH pharmacotherapy on tissue remodelling.

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