PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Afroditi Boutou
AU  - Georgia Pitsiou
AU  - Ioannis Stanopoulos
AU  - Theodoros Kontakiotis
AU  - George Kyriazis
AU  - Panagiota Touplikioti
AU  - Nikolaos Chavouzis
AU  - Lazaros Sichletidis
AU  - Paraskevi Argyropoulou
TI  - Prevalence of anemia of chronic disease in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
DP  - 2011 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - p1026
VI  - 38
IP  - Suppl 55
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p1026.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p1026.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2011 Sep 01; 38
AB  - Background: Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) is a disorder occurring in subjects with chronic immune activation. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is characterized by systemic inflammation, so it could be accompanied by ACD.Aim: To determine the prevalence of ACD among stable COPD patients.Methods: The initial study population consisted of consecutive clinically stable patients with COPD (post bronchodilation FEV1/FVC<0.7; no exacerbation, hospitalization or change in medication in the previous 3 months), who visited three outpatient respiratory clinics. Those with asthma history, heart failure, renal failure, malignancies, systemic or autoimmune disorders, chronic infections, blood lose of any kind and hemoglobin (Hb), liver or thyroid disorders were excluded. In the rest, ACD was confirmed by the presence of: a) low Hb (<13 mg male; <12 mg female), b) ferritin>30ng/ml, c) total binding iron capacity<250 mg/dl, and d) transferrin saturation 15-50%Results: The prevalence of ACD was 10.24% and it was mild (Hb level=12.1±0.7 g/dl)., The ACD patients, compared to the non-anemic ones, were more often males (93.1% vs 77.2%; p<0.001), were older (64.6±8.3 vs 60.3±5.5 years; p<0.05), had lower FEV1%predicted (42.3±9.8 vs 50.7±6.1; p<0.05) and more severe disease according to GOLD classification (stage II: 24.1% vs 29.9%; stage III: 44.8% vs 46.6% and stage IV: 31% vs 23.2%; p<0.05). Smoking history, gas values and weight did not differ, although ACD patients had lower weight when compared to non-anemic ones, matched for age, sex, height and FEV1% predicted.Conclusions: ACD could be another systemic manifestation of COPD, since its prevalence was approximately 10% among stable patients.