Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex condition with pulmonary and extra-pulmonary manifestations. This study describes the heterogeneity of COPD in a large and well characterised and controlled COPD cohort (ECLIPSE). METHODS: We studied 2164 clinically stable COPD patients, 337 smokers with normal lung function and 245 never smokers. In these individuals, we measured clinical parameters, nutritional status, spirometry, exercise tolerance, and amount of emphysema by computed tomography. RESULTS: COPD patients were slightly older than controls and had more pack years of smoking than smokers with normal lung function. Co-morbidities were more prevalent in COPD patients than in controls, and occurred to the same extent irrespective of the GOLD stage. The severity of airflow limitation in COPD patients was poorly related to the degree of breathlessness, health status, presence of co-morbidity, exercise capacity and number of exacerbations reported in the year before the study. The distribution of these variables within each GOLD stage was wide. Even in subjects with severe airflow obstruction, a substantial proportion did not report symptoms, exacerbations or exercise limitation. The amount of emphysema increased with GOLD severity. The prevalence of bronchiectasis was low (4%) but also increased with GOLD stage. Some gender differences were also identified. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical manifestations of COPD are highly variable and the degree of airflow limitation does not capture the heterogeneity of the disease.
Source: Respiratory Research
Authors: the Evaluation of COPD Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate Endpoints (ECLIPSE) investigators, Alvar Agusti, Peter MA Calverley, Bartolome Celli, Harvey O Coxson, Lisa D Edwards, David A Lomas, William MacNee, Bruce E Miller, Steve Rennard, Edwin K Silverman, Ruth Tal-Singer, Emiel Wouters, Julie C Yates, Jørgen Vestbo
Institutions: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer, Universitat de Barcelona, Aintree University Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver General Hospital, University of Cambridge, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, University of Edinburgh, GlaxoSmithKline (United States), University of Nebraska Medical Center, Maastricht University Medical Centre, University of Copenhagen, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Hvidovre Hospital, University of Manchester
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,490
Funder: GlaxoSmithKline
OpenAlex ID: W2142096203