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Background: The Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) does not promote diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (Dlco) values in the evaluation of COPD. In GOLD spirometric stage I COPD patients, the clinical and prognostic impact of a low Dlco has not been explored.Research Question: Could a Dlco threshold help define an increased risk of death and a different clinical presentation in these patients?Study Design and Methods: GOLD stage I COPD patients (n = 360) were enrolled and followed over 109 ± 50 months. Age, sex, pack-years' history, BMI, dyspnea, lung function measurements, exercise capacity, BODE index, and history of exacerbations were recorded. A cutoff value for Dlco was identified for all-cause mortality and the clinical and physiological characteristics of patients above and below the threshold compared. Cox regression analysis explored the predictive power of that cutoff value for all-cause mortality.Results: A Dlco cutoff value of <60% predicted was associated with all-cause mortality (Dlco ≥ 60%: 9% vs Dlco < 60%: 23%, P = .01). At a same FEV1% predicted and Charlson score, patients with Dlco < 60% had lower BMI, more dyspnea, lower inspiratory capacity (IC)/total lung capacity (TLC) ratio, lower 6-min walk distance (6MWD), and higher BODE. Cox multiple regression analysis confirmed that after adjusting for age, sex, pack-years history, smoking status, and BMI, a Dlco < 60% is associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 95% CI = 3.37, 1.35-8.39; P = .009) INTERPRETATION: In GOLD I COPD patients, a Dlco < 60% predicted is associated with increased risk of death and worse clinical presentation. What the cause(s) of this association are and whether they can be treated need to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Diseases (GOLD) defines COPD as a disease that is usually progressive. GOLD also provides a spirometric classification of airflow limitation. However, little is known about the long-term changes of patients in different GOLD grades. Objective: Explore the proportion and characteristics of COPD patients that change their spirometric GOLD grade over long-term follow-up. Methods: Patients alive for at least 8 years since recruitment and those who died with at least 4 years of repeated spirometric measurements were selected from the BODE cohort database. We purposely included the group of non survivors to avoid a “survival selection” bias. The proportion of patients that had a change (improvement or worsening) in their spirometric GOLD grading was calculated and their characteristics compared with those that remained in the same grade. Results: A total of 318 patients were included in the survivor and 217 in the non-survivor groups. Nine percent of survivors and 11% of non survivors had an improvement of at least one GOLD grade. Seventy one percent of survivors and non-survivors remained in the same GOLD grade. Those that improved had a greater degree of airway obstruction at baseline. Conclusions: In this selected population of COPD patients, a high proportion of patients remained in the same spirometric GOLD grade or improved in a long-term follow-up. These findings suggest that once diagnosed, COPD is usually a non-progressive disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS) has been recently described by international guidelines. A stepwise approach to diagnosis using usual features of both diseases is recommended although its clinical application is difficult.Methods: To identify patients with ACOS, a cohort of well-characterized patients with COPD and up to 1 year of follow-up was analyzed. We evaluated the presence of specific characteristics associated with asthma in this COPD cohort, divided into major criteria (bronchodilator test > 400 mL and 15% and past medical history of asthma) and minor criteria (blood eosinophils > 5%, IgE > 100 IU/mL, or two separate bronchodilator tests > 200 mL and 12%). We defined ACOS by the presence of one major criterion or two minor criteria. Baseline characteristics, health status (COPD Assessment Test [CAT]), BMI, airflow obstruction, dyspnea, and exercise capacity (BODE) index, rate of exacerbations, and mortality up to 1 year of follow-up were compared between patients with and without criteria for ACOS.Results: Of 831 patients with COPD included,125 (15%) fulfilled the criteria for ACOS, and 98.4% of them sustained these criteria after 1 year. Patients with ACOS were predominantly male (81.6%), with symptomatic mild to moderate disease (67%), who were receiving inhaled corticosteroids (63.2%). There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics, and only survival was worse in patients with non-ACOS COPD after 1 year of follow-up (P < .05).Conclusions: The proposed ACOS criteria are present in 15% of a cohort of patients with COPD and these patients show better 1-year prognosis than clinically similar patients with COPD with no ACOS criteria.Trial Registry: ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT01122758; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Background The Global Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2011 revision recommends the multidimensional assessment of COPD including comorbidities and has developed a disease categories system (ABCD) attempting to implement this strategy. The added value provided by quantifying comorbidities and integrating them to multidimensional indices has not been explored. Objective Compare the prognostic value of the GOLD ABCD categories versus the BMI, Obstruction, Dyspnea, Exercise (BODE) index, and explore the added prognostic value of comorbidities evaluation to this multidimensional assessment. Methods From the patients who have been enrolled in the BODE study, we selected the most recent ones who had the available information needed to classify them by the ABCD GOLD categories. Cox proportional hazards ratios for all-cause mortality were performed for GOLD categories and BODE index. The added value of the comorbidity Copd cO-morbidity TEst (COTE) index was also explored using receiver operating curves (ROC) values. Results 707 patients were followed for 50±30 months including all degrees of airway limitation and BODE index severity. ABCD GOLD predicted global mortality (HR: 1.47; 95% CI 1.28 to 1.70) as did the BODE index (HR: 2.02; 95% CI 1.76 to 2.31). Area under the curve (AUC) of ROC for ABCD GOLD was 0.68; (95% CI 0.64 to 0.73) while for the BODE index was 0.71 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.76). The C statistics value was significantly higher for the observed difference. Adding the COTE index to the BODE index improved its AUC to 0.81 (95% CI 0.77 to 0.85), (χ2=40.28, p<0.001). Conclusions In this population of COPD patients, the BODE index had a better survival prediction than the ABCD GOLD categories. Adding the COTE to the BODE index was complimentary and significantly improved outcome prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pulmonary artery enlargement (PAE) detected using chest computed tomography (CT) is associated with poor outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is unknown whether nocturnal hypoxemia occurring in smokers, with or without COPD, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) or their overlap, may be associated with PAE assessed by chest CT. Methods: We analysed data from two prospective cohort studies that enrolled 284 smokers in lung cancer screening programs and completing baseline home sleep studies and chest CT scans. Main pulmonary artery diameter (PAD) and the ratio of the PAD to that of the aorta (PA:Ao ratio) were measured. PAE was defined as a PAD ≥ 29 mm in men and ≥27 mm in women or as a PA:Ao ratio > 0.9. We evaluated the association of PAE with baseline characteristics using multivariate logistic models. Results: PAE prevalence was 27% as defined by PAD measurements and 11.6% by the PA:Ao ratio. A body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2 (OR 2.01; 95%CI 1.06–3.78), lower % predicted of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) (OR 1.03; 95%CI 1.02–1.05) and higher % of sleep time with O2 saturation < 90% (T90) (OR 1.02; 95%CI 1.00–1.03), were associated with PAE as determined by PAD. However, only T90 remained significantly associated with PAE as defined by the PA:Ao ratio (OR 1.02; 95%CI 1.01–1.03). In the subset group without OSA, only T90 remains associated with PAE, whether defined by PAD measurement (OR 1.02; 95%CI 1.01–1.03) or PA:Ao ratio (OR 1.04; 95%CI 1.01–1.07). Conclusions: In smokers with or without COPD, nocturnal hypoxemia was associated with PAE independently of OSA coexistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]