Labo for Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Patients with chronic respiratory diseases often present with systemic consequences of the disease beyond the lungs, including peripheral and respiratory muscle dysfunction, decreased exercise capacity and an inactive lifestyle. Pulmonary rehabilitation – a comprehensive interdisciplinary intervention including at least exercise training, education and behaviour change strategies – is generally successful at improving those systemic disease features, which leads to improved symptom perception and enhanced quality of life.

Unfortunately, pulmonary rehabilitation is often offered as a one-size fits-all intervention in clinical routine, which blunt the obtained effect in a proportion of patients. Our team aims to identify key health outcomes in patients with respiratory diseases as indications for pulmonary rehabilitation. Based on the assessment of these outcomes, we aim to identify the most relevant time frame and components of pulmonary rehabilitation for the individual patient. Our main focus lies with patients with lung cancer and patients with COPD.

Patients with chronic respiratory diseases often present with systemic consequences of the disease beyond the lungs, including peripheral and respiratory muscle dysfunction, decreased exercise capacity and an inactive lifestyle. Pulmonary rehabilitation – a comprehensive interdisciplinary intervention including at least exercise training, education and behaviour change strategies – is generally successful at improving those systemic disease features, which leads to improved symptom perception and enhanced quality of life.

Unfortunately, pulmonary rehabilitation is often offered as a one-size fits-all intervention in clinical routine, which blunt the obtained effect in a proportion of patients. Our team aims to identify key health outcomes in patients with respiratory diseases as indications for pulmonary rehabilitation. Based on the assessment of these outcomes, we aim to identify the most relevant time frame and components of pulmonary rehabilitation for the individual patient. Our main focus lies with patients with lung cancer and patients with COPD.

Assessment of physical activity in daily life, exercise capacity (using cardiopulmonary exercise testing and field based tests), peripheral and respiratory muscle function and patient-reported outcomes

Exercise training including aerobic training, resistance training, high-intensity interval training, inspiratory muscle training

Physical activity coaching using digital health technologies

The present team consists of three PhD students (Kirsten Quadflieg, Sarah Haesevoets and Maarten Van Herck) and one joint-PhD student with the University of Aveiro (Filipa Machado).

The team has structural collaborations with Ghent University (Belgium), Umea University (Sweden), University of Aveiro (Portugal) and Curtin University Perth (Australia).

Quadflieg K, Machado A, Haesevoets S, Daenen M, Thomeer M, Ruttens D, Spruit MA, Burtin C. Physical tests are poorly related to patient-reported outcome measures during severe acute exacerbations of COPD. J. Clin. Med. 2022,11,150.

De Brandt J, Burtin C, Pomiès P, Vandenabeele F, Verboven K, Aumann J, Blancquaert L, Everaert I, Van Ryckeghem L, Cops J, Hayot M, Spruit MA, Derave W. Carnosine, oxidative and carbonyl stress, antioxidants, and muscle fiber characteristics of quadriceps muscle of patients with COPD. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2021 Oct 1;131(4):1230-1240.

Burtin C, Mohan D, Troosters T, Watz H, Hopkinson NS, Garcia-Aymerich J, Moy ML, Vogiatzis I, Rossiter HB, Singh S, Merrill DD, Hamilton A, Rennard SI, Fageras M, Petruzzelli S, Tal-Singer R, Tomaszewski E, Corriol-Rohou S, Rochester CL, Sciurba FC, Casaburi R, Man WD, Van Lummel RC, Cooper CB, Demeyer H, Spruit MA, Vaes A; CBQC Task Force on Physical Activity. Objectively Measured Physical Activity as a COPD Clinical Trial Outcome. Chest. 2021 Jul 1:S0012-3692(21)01274-5.

Machado A, Marques A, Burtin C. Extra-pulmonary manifestations of COPD and the role of pulmonary rehabilitation: a symptom-centered approach. Expert Rev Respir Med. 2021 Jan;15(1):131-142.

Machado A, Matos Silva P, Afreixo V, Caneiras C, Burtin C, Marques A. Design of pulmonary rehabilitation programmes during acute exacerbations of COPD: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Eur Respir Rev. 2020 Nov 18;29(158):200039.

Camillo CA, Osadnik CR, Burtin C, Everaerts S, Hornikx M, Demeyer H, Loeckx M, Rodrigues FM, Maes K, Gayan-Ramirez G, Janssens W, Troosters T. Effects of downhill walking in pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with COPD: a randomised controlled trial. Eur Respir J. 2020 May 22:2000639.

Burtin C, Bezuidenhout J, Sanders KJC, Dingemans AC, Schols AMWJ, Peeters STH, Spruit MA, De Ruysscher DKM. Handgrip weakness, low fat-free mass, and overall survival in non-small cell lung cancer treated with curative-intent radiotherapy. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2020 Apr;11(2):424-431.

Van Herck M, Antons J, Vercoulen JH, Goërtz YMJ, Ebadi Z, Burtin C, Janssen DJA, Thong MSY, Otker J, Coors A, Sprangers MAG, Muris JWM, Prins JB, Spruit MA, Peters JB. Pulmonary Rehabilitation Reduces Subjective Fatigue in COPD: A Responder Analysis. J Clin Med. 2019 Aug 20;8(8): 1264.

Cavalheri V, Burtin C, Formico VR, Nonoyama ML, Jenkins S, Spruit MA, Hill K. Exercise training undertaken by people within 12 months of lung resection for non-small cell lung cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019 Jun 17;6:CD009955.

Machado A, Oliveira A, Valente C, Burtin C, Marques A. Effects of a community-based pulmonary rehabilitation programme during acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - A quasi-experimental pilot study. Pulmonology. 2020 Jan-Feb;26(1):27-38.