International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialDesign, rationale, and baseline demographics of SEARCH I: a prospective cluster-randomized study.
Questionnaires are available to identify patients at risk for several chronic diseases, including COPD, but are infrequently utilized in primary care. COPD is often underdiagnosed, while at the same time the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends against spirometric screening for COPD in asymptomatic adults. Use of a symptom-based questionnaire and subsequent handheld spirometric device depending on the answers to the questionnaire is a promising approach to identify patients at risk for COPD. ⋯ A cluster-randomization design allowed comparison of the intervention effects at the practice level instead of individuals being the subjects of the intervention. Regional principal investigators controlled the flow of study information to sub-investigators at participating practices to reduce observation bias (Hawthorne effect). The results of SEARCH I, to be published subsequently, will provide insight into the real world utility of the COPD-PS as well as two-stage COPD case finding with COPD-PS and copd-6.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2012
Comparative StudyTotal lung capacity by plethysmography and high-resolution computed tomography in COPD.
To characterize and compare total lung capacity (TLC) measured by plethysmography with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), and to identify variables that predict the difference between the two modalities. ⋯ In COPD, TLC by plethysmography can be up to 2 L greater than inspiratory HRCT. Gas trapping independently predicts patients for whom TLC by plethysmography differs significantly from HRCT.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the most common chronic respiratory condition in adults and is characterized by progressive airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The main etiological agents linked with COPD are cigarette smoking and biomass exposure but respiratory infection is believed to play a major role in the pathogenesis of both stable COPD and in acute exacerbations. ⋯ Historically, bacteria were considered the main infective cause of exacerbations but with the development of new diagnostic techniques, respiratory viruses are also frequently detected in COPD exacerbations. This article aims to provide a state-of-the art review of current knowledge regarding the role of infection in COPD, highlight the areas of ongoing debate and controversy, and outline emerging technologies and therapies that will influence future diagnostic and therapeutic pathways in COPD.
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Exacerbations affect morbidity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We sought to evaluate the association between exacerbation frequency and spirometric and health status changes over time using data from a large, long-term trial. ⋯ Increasing frequency of exacerbations worsens the rate of decline in lung function and health-related quality of life in patients with COPD. Increasing rates of hospitalized exacerbations are associated with increasing risk of death.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2012
Utility of serum procalcitonin values in patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cautionary note.
Serum procalcitonin levels have been used as a biomarker of invasive bacterial infection and recently have been advocated to guide antibiotic therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, rigorous studies correlating procalcitonin levels with microbiologic data are lacking. Acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) have been linked to viral and bacterial infection as well as noninfectious causes. Therefore, we evaluated procalcitonin as a predictor of viral versus bacterial infection in patients hospitalized with AECOPD with and without evidence of pneumonia. ⋯ Procalcitonin is useful in COPD patients for alerting clinicians to invasive bacterial infections such as pneumonia but it does not distinguish bacterial from viral and noninfectious causes of AECOPD.