2023-06-14 12:03:37
COPD patients with mucus plugs in the airways have a higher risk of death. The more mucus plugs in the airways, the higher the chance of dying within ten years. This has been shown in an observational study in the US with more than 4,300 COPD patients. The study was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Overproduction of mucus is a central part of the pathology in COPD. The mucus can build up in the airways to form mucus plugs. CT scans of COPD patients often show mucus plugs that clog airways. But it is not known whether this is related to mortality. The observational retrospective study in the US was designed to investigate this.
“The patients are part of the COPD cohort of the genetic epidemiology of COPD (COPDGene) studie”
3 categories
The study was done with prospectively collected data from 4,363 patients with COPD. The patients are part of the COPD cohort of the Genetic Epidemiology of COPD (COPDGene) study: a multicenter observational study of genetic factors behind COPD, CT-based phenotypes and COPD subtypes. Study participants were smokers aged 57-70 years (44% female), enrolled at 21 US centers between 2008 and April 2011 and followed through September 2022.
CT scans of participants’ airways looked for mucus plugs in medium to large airways (lumen diameter approximately 2-10 mm). These were classified into 3 categories: affecting 0, 1-2, or 3 or more lung segments
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