Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease state characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The existence of airflow limitation can be determined by spirometry that measures the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and its ratio (FEV1/FVC) to the forced vital capacity (FVC). ⋯ Some of the other pulmonary function tests are useful for understanding the pathophysiology of COPD. These tests include the diffusing capacity measurement of carbon monoxide per liter of alveolar volume (DLco/VA), measurement of lung volume using the nitrogen washout technique and whole body plethysmography, and measurement of lung compliance.
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Differential diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from asthma is not a difficult task for many clinicians. Patients with COPD have a history of heavy smoking and show a slowly progressive dyspnea on exertion and there is little variability in symptoms, and they show a poor response to bronchodilators and corticosteroids. Asthma usually begins in early childhood with atopy, shows episodic dyspnea with wheezing, especially during night and early morning. ⋯ Chronic airway diseases are also possible candidates for differential diagnosis of COPD. Bronchiectasis, sinobronchial syndrome, diffuse panbronchiolitis, obliterative bronchiolitis, and other chronic airway diseases should be considered. Some interstitial lung diseases, such as smoking-related interstitial lung diseases and lymphangioleiomyomatosis, often show obstructive ventilatory impairment, and therefore should be considered in differential diagnosis of COPD.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a cigarette smoking-related disorder characterized by chronic inflammation of the airways and progressive destruction of lung parenchyma, leading to airway remodeling and pulmonary emphysema. Several mechanisms have been proposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of pulmonary emphysema, including an imbalance of proteases and antiproteases, and oxidative stress. In addition to these mechanisms, recent studies suggest another mechanism involved in the development of pulmonary emphysema: apoptosis of alveolar wall cells. ⋯ Studies with animal models suggest that caspases, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) deficiency, oxidants, ceramide, CD8+ T-lymphocytes, elastases, and interferon-gamma may be responsible for the induction of apoptosis of alveolar wall cells. Furthermore, defective clearance of apoptotic cells in the lungs of patients with emphysema may promote inflammation. In this review, recent data on the role of apoptosis in emphysema from both animal models as well as from studies on human subjects will be discussed.
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Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has high prevalence and mortality, there are underestimated and many COPD patients still remain not diagnosed worldwide including Japan. In spite of high prevalence in Western countries, it had been reported that COPD patients were estimated about 200,000 in Japan. Here, the prevalence of COPD in Japan is discussed according to the NICE Study.
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Review
[CT imaging of COPD--importance of phenotyping (emphysema dominant and airway disorder dominant)].
We have been engaged in the analysis of the distribution of low attenuation area (LAA) representing emphysema, and the measurement of airway dimensions using CT images from the view point of phenotyping of COPD. (1) L AA% (area ratio of LAA to all lung area) did not correlate with reversibility to bronchodilators, whereas WA% (area ratio of bronchial wall to cross section of bronchus) positively correlated with reversibility. Thus, bronchodilators may be effective in proportional to the extent of airway disorders. (2) The incidence of Gc*1F(+) was significantly higher in patients with severe emphysema. ⋯ Furthermore, there were significant correlations between the body mass index and the CT measures of emphysema. These data demonstrate that emphysema-like changes are present in the lungs of patients who are chronically malnourished.