• Theodoros Karampitsakos and Konstantinos I Gourgoulianis.
• Academic Department of Pneumonology, Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, "Sotiria", Medical School, University of Athens, Messogion Avenue 152, Athens 11527, Greece. Electronic address: thodoriskarampitsakos@gmail.com.
• Med. Hypotheses. 2016 Jun 1; 91: 20-23.

AbstractAsthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represent two major public health problems. However, there is a significant proportion of patients with a mixed asthma-COPD phenotype. This condition is defined as asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS). Since there are no internationally accepted criteria for the diagnosis of that syndrome, its management remains difficult. Given the fact that patients with ACOS have an increased risk of exacerbation and hospitalization, there is a pressing need for a more targeted approach and better management. We propose that fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), a marker of eosinophilic inflammation, could help clinicians differentiate ACOS from asthma and COPD. We evaluate this hypothesis, using data derived from the existing literature. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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