Emiel F. M. Wouters

Changes in Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second over Time in COPD

BACKGROUND A key feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an accelerated rate of decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)), but data on the variability and determinants of this change in patients who have established disease are scarce. METHODS We analyzed the changes in FEV(1) after administration of a bronchodilator over a 3-year period in 2163 patients. A random-coefficient model was used to evaluate possible predictors of both FEV(1) levels and their changes over time. RESULTS The mean (±SE) rate of change in FEV(1) was a decline of 33±2 ml per year, with significant variation among the patients studied. The between-patient standard deviation for the rate of decline was 59 ml per year. Over the 3-year study period, 38% of patients had an estimated decline in FEV(1) of more than 40 ml per year, 31% had a decline of 21 to 40 ml per year, 23% had a change in FEV(1) that ranged from a decrease of 20 ml per year to an increase of 20 ml per year, and 8% had an increase of more than 20 ml per year. The mean rate of decline in FEV(1) was 21±4 ml per year greater in current smokers than in current nonsmokers, 13±4 ml per year greater in patients with emphysema than in those without emphysema, and 17±4 ml per year greater in patients with bronchodilator reversibility than in those without reversibility. CONCLUSIONS The rate of change in FEV(1) among patients with COPD is highly variable, with increased rates of decline among current smokers, patients with bronchodilator reversibility, and patients with emphysema.

An Official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Statement: Research questions in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity, mortality, and resource use worldwide. The goal of this Official American Thoracic Society (ATS)/European Respiratory Society (ERS) Research Statement is to describe evidence related to diagnosis, assessment, and management; identify gaps in knowledge; and make recommendations for future research. It is not intended to provide clinical practice recommendations on COPD diagnosis and management. METHODS Clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates with expertise in COPD were invited to participate. A literature search of Medline was performed, and studies deemed relevant were selected. The search was not a systematic review of the evidence. Existing evidence was appraised and summarized, and then salient knowledge gaps were identified. RESULTS Recommendations for research that addresses important gaps in the evidence in all areas of COPD were formulated via discussion and consensus. CONCLUSIONS Great strides have been made in the diagnosis, assessment, and management of COPD as well as understanding its pathogenesis. Despite this, many important questions remain unanswered. This ATS/ERS Research Statement highlights the types of research that leading clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates believe will have the greatest impact on patient-centered outcomes.

Co-Morbidities and Systemic Effects of COPD

•Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is defined as a preventable and treatable disease with significant extrapulmonary effects, which may contribute to the disease severity in individual patients. •An increasing amount of attention has been paid to causal relationships between one disorder and another and to an underlying vulnerability to different disorders. •A patient-oriented approach to COPD needs to take into account that several coexisting components of the chronic disease can contribute to the experienced symptomatology.