International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2019
Multicenter Study Observational StudyEnd-of-life care in individuals with respiratory diseases: a population study comparing the dying experience between those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
Among individuals with COPD and/or lung cancer, to describe end-of-life health service utilization, costs, and place of death; to identify predictors of home palliative care use, and to assess benefits associated with palliative care use. ⋯ Although individuals with lung cancer were much more likely to receive palliative care than those with COPD, both populations were underserviced. Results suggest greater involvement of palliative care may improve the dying experience of these populations and reduce costs.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2019
Multicenter StudyExacerbation Frequency And Eosinophil Counts Among Patients With COPD Currently Prescribed Triple Therapy.
To characterize and estimate the proportion of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who continue to exacerbate while receiving triple therapy and further describe these patients according to blood eosinophil counts. ⋯ This analysis demonstrates that there is a subpopulation of patients with COPD who continue to experience exacerbations despite receiving triple therapy; approximately three-quarters of these had eosinophils ≥150 cells/μL and one-third had eosinophils ≥300 cells/μL; these patients may benefit from eosinophil-targeted therapies.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2019
Comparative StudyThe acute wheezy adult with airways disease in the emergency department: a retrospective case-note review of exacerbations of COPD.
Introduction: There has been an increase in interest in the peripheral blood eosinophil count as a biomarker in COPD. Few studies have examined the eosinophil count in patients attending the emergency department (ED) with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD). We investigated the relationship between the blood eosinophil and other variables collected routinely at ED presentation and outcomes. ⋯ Length of stay correlated with peripheral blood neutrophils (r=0.12, p=0.021), peripheral blood absolute and relative eosinophils (r=-0.12, p=0.024 and r=-0.11, p=0.035, respectively) and CRP (r=0.16, p=0.027). Non-eosinophilic AECOPD were associated with an increased risk of mortality during an exacerbation (χ2 5.9, OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.19-7.96, p=0.015). Conclusion: In exacerbations of COPD presenting to ED, a higher blood eosinophil count is associated with a shorter length of stay and reduced mortality.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2019
ReviewEvidence-based review of data on the combination inhaler umeclidinium/vilanterol in patients with COPD.
The use of inhaled, fixed-dose, long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) combined with long-acting, beta2-adrenergic receptor agonists (LABA) has become a mainstay in the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). One of the fixed-dose LAMA/LABA combinations is the dry powder inhaler (DPI) of umeclidinium bromide (UMEC) and vilanterol trifenatate (VI) (62.5 µg/25 µg) approved for once-a-day maintenance treatment of COPD. ⋯ The fixed-dose combination LAMA/LABA inhaler offers a step beyond a single inhaled maintenance agent but is still a single device for the COPD patient having frequent COPD exacerbations and persistent symptoms not well controlled on one agent. Currently available clinical trials suggest that the once-a-day DPI of UMEC/VI is well-tolerated, safe and non-inferior or better than other currently available inhaled fixed-dose LAMA/LABA combinations for COPD.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2019
Overexpression of chitotriosidase and YKL-40 in peripheral blood and sputum of healthy smokers and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Despite the absence of endogenous chitin in humans, chitinases are present in the serum of healthy subjects and their levels are increased in a variety of chronic inflammatory conditions. It has been shown that chitotriosidase and structurally related chitinase-like protein-YKL-40 contribute to the pathogenesis of COPD. However, details regarding the relation of their systemic and local airways levels remain unknown. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that chitotriosidase and YKL-40 are overexpressed in peripheral blood and airways in both healthy smokers and COPD subjects which may indicate smoking-related activation of macrophages, neutrophils, and epithelial cells.