Extract
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension increase the risk of death and hospitalisations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients [1]. COPD patients with CVD are at increased risk of COPD-related hospitalisations [2]. Arterial hypertension is one of the most prevalent comorbidities, influencing 40–60% of COPD patients [1]. Diabetes mellitus is more prevalent in moderate to very severe COPD than in the general population [1] and hyperglycaemia during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) is associated with increased in-hospital mortality [3]. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) has proposed a multidimensional classification for COPD management [4, 5] that includes symptoms and future risk of AECOPD, based on the severity of airflow limitation and previous exacerbation history. A recent study has shown that the risk of future hospital admission due to COPD and cardiovascular death is higher in the more symptomatic group B compared with group C, regardless the functional advantage of patients in the first group [6]. Our study assessed the effect of CVD, arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus on the time to first AECOPD, and on exacerbation and hospitalisation risk in groups A–D of the GOLD 2011 and 2013 classification, in a cohort of patients admitted to hospital for AECOPD.
Abstract
Comorbidities are important determinants of future risk in COPD patients and should be considered in the assessment of future risk http://ow.ly/L2qJp
Acknowledgements
The results of this study have been presented at the European Respiratory Society Annual Congress in 2013.
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: None declared.
- Received December 27, 2014.
- Accepted March 18, 2015.
- Copyright ©ERS 2015