Chest
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A renewed interest in the clinical and pathogenic aspects of COPD exacerbation is timely in view of national and global COPD initiatives. The three big problems regarding COPD continue to be the following: prevention of the disease; slowing progression of the disease once diagnosis has been established; and prevention and more effective treatment of the so-called exacerbation. The following assessment will raise more questions than answers and will review some of the past and current concepts and contexts.
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To determine the incidence and mortality as well as to analyze the clinical and pathologic changes of aortic dissection. ⋯ Aortic dissection was the initial clinical impression in only 13 of the 84 patients (15%). Thus, 85% of the patients did not receive immediate appropriate medical treatment. For this reason, these late-recognized and/or unrecognized cases may be regarded as an untreated or symptomatically treated group, whose course may resemble the natural course of aortic dissection.