PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ciro Casanova
AU  - Bartolome R. Celli
AU  - Juan P. de-Torres
AU  - Cristina Martínez-Gonzalez
AU  - Borja G. Cosio
AU  - Victor Pinto-Plata
AU  - Pilar de Lucas-Ramos
AU  - Miguel Divo
AU  - Antonia Fuster
AU  - Germán Peces-Barba
AU  - Myriam Calle-Rubio
AU  - Ingrid Solanes
AU  - Ramón Aguero
AU  - Nuria Feu-Collado
AU  - Inmaculada Alfageme
AU  - Alfredo De Diego
AU  - Amparo Romero
AU  - Eva Balcells
AU  - Antonia Llunell
AU  - Juan B. Galdiz
AU  - Margarita Marin
AU  - Amalia Moreno
AU  - Carlos Cabrera
AU  - Rafael Golpe
AU  - Celia Lacarcel
AU  - Joan B. Soriano
AU  - José Luis López-Campos
AU  - Juan J. Soler-Cataluña
AU  - José M. Marin
TI  - Prevalence of persistent blood eosinophilia: relation to outcomes in patients with COPD
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.01162-2017
DP  - 2017 Nov 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 1701162
VI  - 50
IP  - 5
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/50/5/1701162.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/50/5/1701162.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2017 Nov 01; 50
AB  - The impact of blood eosinophilia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains controversial.To evaluate the prevalence and stability of a high level of blood eosinophils (≥300 cells·μL–1) and its relationship to outcomes, we determined blood eosinophils at baseline and over 2 years in 424 COPD patients (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) 60% predicted) and 67 smokers without COPD from the CHAIN cohort, and in 308 COPD patients (FEV1 60% predicted) in the BODE cohort. We related eosinophil levels to exacerbations and survival using Cox hazard analysis.In COPD patients, 15.8% in the CHAIN cohort and 12.3% in the BODE cohort had persistently elevated blood eosinophils at all three visits. A significant proportion (43.8%) of patients had counts that oscillated above and below the cut-off points, while the rest had persistent eosinophil levels <300 cells·μL–1. A similar eosinophil blood pattern was observed in controls. Exacerbation rates did not differ in patients with and without eosinophilia. All-cause mortality was lower in patients with high eosinophils compared with those with values <300 cells·μL–1 (15.8% versus 33.7%; p=0.026).In patients with COPD, blood eosinophils ≥300 cells·μL–1 persisting over 2 years was not a risk factor for COPD exacerbations. High eosinophil count was associated with better survival.The stability of blood eosinophils ≥300 cells per μL is low in COPD patients and it does not confer a poor prognosis http://ow.ly/TwGX30etVIy