International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2016
Comparative StudyImportance of fractional exhaled nitric oxide in the differentiation of asthma-COPD overlap syndrome, asthma, and COPD.
Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is an easy, sensitive, reproducible, and noninvasive marker of eosinophilic airway inflammation. Accordingly, FeNO is extensively used to diagnose and manage asthma. Patients with COPD who share some of the features of asthma have a condition called asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS). The feasibility of using FeNO to differentiate ACOS patients from asthma and COPD patients remains unclear. ⋯ FeNO measurement is an easy, noninvasive, and sensitive method for differentiating ACOS from COPD. This technique is a new perspective for the management of COPD patients.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2016
Comparative StudyCut-off value of FEV1/FEV6 as a surrogate for FEV1/FVC for detecting airway obstruction in a Korean population.
Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/forced expiratory volume in 6 seconds (FEV6) has been proposed as an alternative to FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) for detecting airway obstruction. A fixed cut-off value for FEV1/FEV6 in a Korean population is lacking. We investigated a fixed cut-off for FEV1/FEV6 as a surrogate for FEV1/FVC for detecting airway obstruction. ⋯ A valid fixed cut-off for detecting airway obstruction in a Korean population is FEV1/FEV6 of 75%, but should be used with caution in older individuals and those with mild-moderate airway obstruction.
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Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with accelerated disease progression and are important drivers of health care resource utilization. The study aimed to quantify the rates of COPD exacerbations in England and assess health care resource utilization by severity categories according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2013. ⋯ Patients in the most severe category (GOLD D) experienced nearly three times the number of exacerbations and COPD-related hospitalizations as those in the least severe category (GOLD A), in addition to increased general practitioner visits. Better patient management to stabilize the disease progression could allow for an improvement in exacerbation frequency and a reduction in health care resource utilization.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2016
Mortality associated with bone fractures in COPD patients.
COPD is well known to frequently coexist with osteoporosis. Bone fractures often occur and may affect mortality in COPD patients. However, in-hospital mortality related to bone fractures in COPD patients has been poorly studied. This retrospective study investigated in-hospital mortality of COPD patients with bone fractures using a national inpatient database in Japan. ⋯ COPD patients with hip fractures had higher mortality than COPD patients with other types of fracture. Surgery for hip fracture was associated with lower mortality than conservative treatment.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2016
Observational StudyCommunity-acquired pneumonia and survival of critically ill acute exacerbation of COPD patients in respiratory intensive care units.
The aim of this study was to appraise the effect of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) on inhospital mortality in critically ill acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) patients admitted to a respiratory intensive care unit. ⋯ CAP may be an independent risk factor for higher inhospital mortality in critically ill AECOPD patients.