While both chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) impose a substantial disease burden and share aetiological and epidemiological associations, they have largely been studied separately. The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence and the prognostic implications of the coexistence of left ventricular dysfunction in COPD patients and airway obstruction in CHF patients.We used a prospective cohort study including stable o60-yr-old patients with echocardiographically confirmed CHF (n5201) and stable o60-yr-old patients with clinically and spirometryconfirmed COPD (n5218). All CHF patients underwent routine spirometry, and all COPD patients underwent routine echocardiographic assessment and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurement. Patients were followed for 2 yrs.The prevalence of airway obstruction among CHF patients was 37.3% and the prevalence of ventricular dysfunction among COPD patients was 17%. The presence of ventricular dysfunction in patients with COPD tended to increase the risk of mortality during follow-up (hazard ratio 2.34, 95% CI 0.99-5.54; p50.053). The presence of airway obstruction in patients with CHF did not influence survival.CHF and COPD frequently coexist, and ventricular dysfunction worsens survival in patients with COPD. Considering the high prevalence and the prognostic implications of ventricular dysfunction, routine assessment with either BNP or echocardiogram should be considered in COPD patients.

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Background Clinically evident interstitial lung disease (ILD) affects between 10 and 42% of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Airway involvement seems to be even more common. Most of the available evidence comes from studies performed in established RA patients. The aim of our study was to know the prevalence of non-diagnosed lung disease (airway and interstitial involvement) in patients with early RA and look for associated factors. Methods We designed an observational, multicenter, cross-sectional study, and included patients with RA of less than two years since diagnosis. We performed a structured questionnaire, HRCT and lung functional tests looking for lung disease, together with joint disease evaluation. We analyzed which variables were associated with the presence of lung disease on HRCT. Results We included 83 patients, 83% females. The median (IQR) of time since RA diagnosis was 3 (1–6) months. In the HRCT, 57 patients had airway compromisea (72%), and 6 had interstitial abnormalities (7.5%). The most common altertion found in lung functional tests was a reduced DLCO (14%). The presence of at least one abnormality in the physical exam was associated with lung involvement on HRCT [13 (21.6%) vs 0 (0%); p = 0.026]. Also, patients with lung involvement presented significantly lower values of FVC% and DLCO%, and higher values of RV/TLC. No variable related to joint involvement was found associated with alterations in HRCT. Conclusion Our study shows that a large proportion of early RA patients has abnormal findings in HRCT. Further studies are required to confirm these findings.

This single dose study found that the test and reference products met the regulatory criteria for bioequivalence in this sample of fasting healthy volunteers. These results suggest that bioequivalence studies evaluating 50-mg doses of Lamotrigine are feasible and recommended, since such doses may minimize the risk of severe rash or Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. This study was registered at the Argentinean Clinical Trials National Registry (www.anmat.gov.ar), No 1666/2008.

The bioequivalence of two 600-mg oxcarbazepine oral formulations (Aurene, Ivax Argentina, [test]; and Trileptal, Novartis Laboratories, [reference]) were assessed through the simultaneous determination of oxcarbazepine and the active metabolite 10,11-dyhydro-10-hydroxy-carbamazepine derivative (MHD). 12 healthy male volunteers received a single oral dose of 600 mg of each formulation, in a balanced, randomized, paired, crossover design, with a 7-day wash out period. Oxcarbazepine and MHD concentrations were established at 0.5,1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 24 and 48 h post dose by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The regression coefficient determined for oxcarbazepine calibration curves was 0.9933 +/- 0.0236; and for MHD, was 0.9897 +/- 0.0017. The working range for both oxcarbazepine and its metabolite was from 0.1 to 10.0 microg/ml. The quantification limit was 0.1 microg/ml. The 90% confidence interval (CI) geometric mean for oxcarbazepine C(max), AUC(0-48 h) and AUC(0-infinity) ratios (test : reference) were 74.1-146.2%, 85.6-171.5% and 89.6-169.8%, respectively, and the 90% CI geometric mean for MHD C(max), AUC(0-48 h) and AUC(0-infinity) ratios (test : reference) were 84.0-122.3, 93.2-117.9 and 96.5-116.7, respectively. These results established the bioequivalence of two oxcarbazepine formulations from MHD kinetic data used in 12 healthy volunteers, while it was not possible to establish bioequivalence with oxcarbazepine. MHD quantification is preferred to that of the oxcarbazepine in order to assess bioequivalence, as the metabolite is responsible for the antiepileptic activity, presents linear kinetics in the therapeutic range, has lower intra-individual variability and higher plasma levels and half life than the parent drug.