Matthew Martin

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Fellow at University of Nottingham

Objectives to compare directly supervised clinic spirometry (DSCS) with virtually supervised at home spirometry (VSHS), assess the utility of AI-over-reading, and evaluate patients’ views of VSHS. Methods A multi-centre, prospective, 8-day study was conducted in adult patients with physician-diagnosed asthma or COPD from UK primary/secondary care....

Rationale: Asthma attacks (AA) are potentially life-threatening complications of asthma associated with high levels of morbidity, mortality and rising healthcare costs. Patient experience, impact and understanding of AA is poorly described in the literature. Enhanced understanding will identify unmet needs in asthma care and support the developmen...

Introduction Asthma attacks (AA) are responsible for high levels of morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs globally. Heterogeneity in the causes and pathophysiology of AA has been described but knowledge regarding patient experience and understanding of AA is poor. Aim To explore patients’ experiences and understanding of AA, the impact on the...

Background MMA is an effective treatment option for OSAS refractory to conventional treatment. However, MMA is a highly invasive procedure with several recognised side effects. Few data exist on the effect of MMA on important PROMS. [1] Here we describe a case series of patients selected for MMA through our joint respiratory/maxillofacial surgery c...

Background and objective Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a non‐invasive biomarker that reflects IL‐4/IL‐13 production and therefore represents T2 allergic inflammation. FeNO has previously been used to guide inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) treatment in asthma. The purpose of this study was to determine if a low FeNO (≤27 ppb) could be used t...

Background Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are the mainstay of asthma treatment, but evidence suggests a link between ICS usage and increased rates of respiratory infections. We assessed the composition of the asthmatic airways microbiome in asthma patients taking low and high dose ICS and the stability of the microbiome over a 2 week period. Method...

Asthma attacks (exacerbations) are common, accounting for over 90 000 UK hospital admissions per annum. They kill nearly 1500 people per year in the UK, have significant associated direct and indirect costs and lead to accelerated and permanent loss of lung function. The recognition of asthma as a heterogeneous condition with multiple phenotypes ha...

Background MMA is an effective treatment option for OSAS refractory to conventional treatment. However, MMA is a highly invasive procedure with a number of recognised side effects and few data exist on the effect of MMA on metrics likely to be of prime importance to patients such as quality of life.¹Here we describe a case series of patients select...

Background and objective Adult patients with chronic productive cough of unknown cause are commonly seen in respiratory clinics. We have previously described a subgroup of these patients who have a short‐lived response to standard antibiotic treatment but a prolonged response to 3 months of low‐dose azithromycin therapy. Methods This observational...

Introduction Continuous Positive Airways Pressure (CPAP) therapy is effective and most widely used treatment for most patients with moderate to severe obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA). Mandibular Advancement Device (MAD) is also used in mild to moderate sleep apnoea. A number of patients are unable to tolerate or are not suitable for these treatment...

Background: The relationship between symptoms and objectively defined asthma is unclear. Also, the predictive value of symptoms to determine response to inhaled steroid (ICS) treatment has not previously been assessed. Aims: To establish the discriminatory value of symptoms for (1) diagnosis of asthma based on positive methacholine challenge (PC20)...

Differential sputum cell counting is not widely available despite proven clinical utility in the management of asthma. We compared eosinophil counts obtained using liquid-based cytology (LBC), a routine histopathological processing method, and the current standard method. Eosinophil counts obtained using LBC were a strong predictor of sputum eosino...

The value of FENO measurements in patients with symptoms suggestive of asthma is unclear. We performed an observational study to assess the ability of FENO to diagnose asthma and to predict response to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). Our findings suggest FENO is not useful for asthma diagnosis but is accurate at predicting ICS response.

A chronic 'productive' or 'wet' cough is a common presenting complaint for patients attending the adult respiratory clinic. Most reviews and guidelines suggest that the causes of a productive cough are the same as those of a non-productive cough and as such the same diagnostic pathway should be followed. We suggest a different diagnostic approach f...

There is interest in the use of macrolide antibiotics in asthma. Macrolides have been shown to improve airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and measures of airway inflammation.The degree of AHR may relate to the microbiota present in the airways, with a recent study reporting that patients with asthma with a significant improvement in AHR following tre...

Migration of thrombus through the cerebral arteries is a common cause of stroke. Thrombus emboli can be detected non-invasively using Doppler ultrasound, but even where the embolus composition is known, there is currently no method for estimating the size of an embolus based on the returned ultrasound signal. Here we report the results of in vitro...

Targeted ultrasound contrast agents, or targeted ‘microbubbles’ are produced by conjugation of specific ligands into the bubble membrane targeting receptor sequences expressed on surfaces of interest in the body. This allows microbubbles to be retained at pathological sites in the vasculature even under physiological flow conditions. Targeted micro...

Targeted ultrasound contrast agents have recently been developed to adhere selectively to specific pathogenic materials such as plaque or thrombus. Administration of such microbubbles has potential to aid transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) detection of emboli and to act as markers for distinguishing one embolic material from another. The purpose...