August 04, 2015
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Asthma–COPD overlap syndrome prevalent in asthmatics with smoking history

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Researchers observed asthma–COPD overlap syndrome in more than one-quarter of patients with asthma who had a lengthy smoking history but no previous diagnosis of COPD.

Toni Kiljander, MD, a pulmonary diseases and allergology specialist at Terveystalo Hospital in Finland, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study of patients with asthma who had no previous diagnosis of COPD but had a smoking history of at least 10-pack years.

The analysis included 190 adults aged 18 to 70 years. The researchers performed spirometry before and after administering 400 µg of inhaled salbutamol while the patients took their usual asthma medication.

Fifty-two patients had postbronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity less than 0.7 and thus considered to have asthma-COPD overlap syndrome.

Patients aged 60 years and older and who smoked 20 or more pack-years had the highest risk for asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (OR = 6.08; 95% CI, 2.11-17.9).

Implications resulting from the study results could impact future research, policy and practice, the researchers wrote.

“In everyday life, this could mean that in the case of an elderly asthmatic with a clearly positive smoking history, whose asthma is difficult to treat, attention should be given not just to the known asthma, but also one should take the COPD component of possible asthma-COPD overlap syndrome into account as well,” the researchers wrote. – by Ryan McDonald

Disclosure: Kiljander reports receiving personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Mundipharma and Novartis. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.