Lebrikizumab treatment was associated with improved lung function. Patients with high pretreatment levels of serum periostin had greater improvement in lung function with lebrikizumab than did patients with low periostin levels. (Funded by Genentech; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00930163 .).

In public health terms, a substantive burden of COPD is attributable to risk factors other than smoking. To prevent COPD-related disability and mortality, efforts must focus on prevention and cessation of exposure to smoking and these other, less well-recognized risk factors.

Increased dead-space fraction is a feature of the early phase of the acute respiratory distress syndrome. Elevated values are associated with an increased risk of death.

In patients with acute lung injury, plasma interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 levels are associated with morbidity and mortality. The severity of inflammation varies with clinical risk factor, suggesting that clinical risk factor should be considered when both developing and testing therapeutic interventions. Low tidal volume ventilation is associated with a more rapid attenuation of the inflammatory response.

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Genentech and Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

No abstract

Background: Studies from single centers have suggested that mortality from acute lung injury (ALI) has declined over time. However, recent trends in ALI mortality from centers across the U.S. are unknown. Whether recent advances in the treatment of ALI or related critical illnesses have resulted in decreased mortality from ALI is not clear.