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| Emphysema Arterial Blood Gas |
Question:
How can the arterial blood gas tensions in patients with emphysema be imbroved?
Answer:
For patients with emphysema induced by alpha sub 1-antitrypsin deficiency
purified alpha sub 1-antitrypsin protein is available for supplemental
administration intravenously. This therapy is both costly and cumbersome,
and its use is limited solely to patients with this type of emphysema.
The availability of this protein should encourage primary care physicians to
measure blood levels of alpha sub 1-antitrypsin protein in patients with
panlobular emphysema if there are features to suggest familial deficiency,
such as emphysema of early onset, similarly afflicted family members or the
presence of emphysema without a significant history of cigarette smoking.
Noninvasive mechanical ventilatory assistance overnight via a face or nasal
mask with positive pressure or via cuirass or poncho with negative pressure
can, in the short term, improve arterial blood gas tensions in patients with
respiratory failure secondary to COPD(72,73).
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