Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2007 Dec;4(8):586-90.
doi: 10.1513/pats.200706-068TH.

Exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: do they contribute to disease progression?

Edwin K Silverman  1
Affiliations
Review

Exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: do they contribute to disease progression?

Edwin K Silverman. Proc Am Thorac Soc. 2007 Dec.

Abstract

The impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations on decline in FEV(1) has been a controversial topic for decades. We will review some of the key studies in this area and discuss potential contributors to inconsistent results of these studies. Dissecting the heterogeneous COPD syndrome into meaningful subtypes and assessing the genetic and environmental influences on COPD-related phenotypes such as exacerbation frequency could clarify the impact of exacerbations on the natural history of COPD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

<b>Figure 1.</b>
Figure 1.
(A) Additional factor model. Variation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation frequency could be unrelated to differences in the type of COPD, but rather to independent factors, such as genetic or environmental determinants of susceptibility to respiratory infections. (B) COPD heterogeneity model. Variation in COPD exacerbation frequency could relate to specific subtypes of COPD. For example, subjects with emphysema-predominant disease could have a different exacerbation frequency compared with subjects with airway-predominant disease.
<b>Figure 1.</b>
Figure 1.
(A) Additional factor model. Variation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation frequency could be unrelated to differences in the type of COPD, but rather to independent factors, such as genetic or environmental determinants of susceptibility to respiratory infections. (B) COPD heterogeneity model. Variation in COPD exacerbation frequency could relate to specific subtypes of COPD. For example, subjects with emphysema-predominant disease could have a different exacerbation frequency compared with subjects with airway-predominant disease.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Soler-Cataluna JJ, Martinez-Garcia MA, Roman Sanchez P, Salcedo E, Navarro M, Ochando R. Severe acute exacerbations and mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Thorax 2005;60:925–931. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Donaldson GC, Wedzicha JA. COPD exacerbations. 1: epidemiology. Thorax 2006;61:164–168. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Howard P. A long-term follow-up of respiratory symptoms and ventilatory function in a group of working men. Br J Ind Med 1970;27:326–333. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bates DV. The fate of the chronic bronchitic: a report of the ten-year follow-up in the Canadian Department of Veteran's Affairs coordinated study of chronic bronchitis. The J. Burns Amberson Lecture of the American Thoracic Society. Am Rev Respir Dis 1973;108:1043–1065. - PubMed
    1. Fletcher C, Peto R, Tinker C, Speizer FE. The natural history of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; 1976. pp. 70–105.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources