The impact of depressive symptoms on outcomes of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) has not been thoroughly evaluated in prospective studies.We prospectively enrolled 230 consecutive patients hospitalised for AECOPD, without previous diagnosis of depression. Depressive symptoms were evaluated with Beck's depression inventory. Pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gases, COPD assessment test (CAT) and Borg dyspnoea scale were recorded on admission and on days 3, 10 and 40. Patients were evaluated monthly for 1 year.Patients with depressive symptoms required longer hospitalisation (mean¡SD 11.6¡3.7 versus 5.6¡4.1 days, p,0.001). Clinical variables improved during the course of AECOPD, but depressive symptoms on admission had a significant impact on dyspnoea (p,0.001) and CAT score (p50.012) improvement. Patients with depressive symptoms presented more AECOPD (p,0.001) and more hospitalisations for AECOPD (p,0.001) in 1 year. In multivariate analysis, depressive symptoms were an independent predictor of mortality (hazard ratio 3.568, 95% CI 1.302-9.780) and risk for AECOPD (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 2.221, 95% CI 1.573-3.135) and AECOPD hospitalisations (IRR 3.589, 95% CI 2.319-5.556) in 1 year.The presence of depressive symptoms in patients admitted for AECOPD has a significant impact on recovery and is related to worse survival and increased risk for subsequent COPD exacerbations and hospitalisations in 1 year.

Background. Respiratory symptoms are usually underestimated in patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Therefore, we set out to investigate the prevalence of patients chronic dyspnea and the relationship of the symptom to lung function indices. Methods. Twenty-five clinically stable hemodialysis patients were included. The mMRC dyspnea scale was applied before and after hemodialysis. Spirometry, single breath nitrogen test, arterial blood gases, static maximum inspiratory (P imax⁡) and expiratory (P emax⁡) muscle pressures, and mouth occlusion pressure (P 0.1) were also measured. Results. Despite normal spirometry, all patients (100%) reported mild to moderate degree of chronic dyspnea pre which was reduced after hemodialysis. The sole predictor of (Δ) mMRC was the (Δ) P 0.1 (r = 0.71, P < 0.001). The P imax⁡ was reduced before and correlated with the duration of hemodialysis (r = 0.614, P < 0.001), whilst after the session it was significantly increased (P < 0.001). Finally (Δ) weight was correlated with the (Δ) P imax⁡  %pred (r = 0.533, P = 0,006) and with the (Δ) CV (%pred) (r = 0.65, P < 0.001). Conclusion. We conclude that dyspnea is the major symptom among the CKD patients that improves after hemodialysis. The neuromechanical dissociation observed probably is one of the major pathophysiologic mechanisms of dyspnea.

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.We prospectively enrolled 609 consecutive patients admitted to respiratory medicine departments of two tertiary hospitals with a diagnosis of AECOPD between March 2009 and February 2013. All subjects were current or ex-smokers with ⩾20 pack-years and a previous spirometry-confirmed diagnosis of COPD. Patients with other comorbid respiratory conditions, comorbidities that might result in a limited expected survival (such as malignancies, leukaemia or AIDS) or with an inability to cooperate with the investigators were excluded. The study protocol was approved by the ethics committees of both hospitals and participants provided informed consent. Symptoms were evaluated according to the COPD assessment test (CAT) [7] and the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnoea scale [8]. Spirometry data were from patients' medical records when their COPD was stable (during the last 6 months and ⩾4 weeks before admission). Patients were categorised into the GOLD 2011 groups, as follows. Group A: fewer symptoms (mMRC <2/CAT <10), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) >50% predicted and fewer than two exacerbations in the previous year. Group B: more symptoms (mMRC ⩾2/CAT ⩾10), FEV1 >50% predicted and fewer than two exacerbations in the previous year. Group C: fewer symptoms (mMRC <2/ CAT <10), FEV1 ⩽50% predicted and/or two or more exacerbations in the previous year. Group D: more symptoms (mMRC ⩾2/CAT ⩾10), FEV1 ⩽50% predicted and/or two or more exacerbations in the previous year [4]. In cases of discrepancy between the CAT and mMRC scales, the patient was categorised in the higher category (B or D). We performed an additional analysis classifying all our hospitalised pat...

Background. Cognitive deterioration may impair COPD patient's ability to perform tasks like driving vehicles. We investigated: (a) whether subclinical neuropsychological deficits occur in stable COPD patients with mild hypoxemia (PaO2 > 55 mmHg), and (b) whether these deficits affect their driving performance. Methods. We recruited 35 stable COPD patients and 10 normal subjects matched for age, IQ, and level of education. All subjects underwent an attention/alertness battery of tests for assessing driving performance based on the Vienna Test System. Pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gases, and dyspnea severity were also recorded. Results. COPD patients performed significantly worse than normal subjects on tests suitable for evaluating driving ability. Therefore, many (22/35) COPD patients were classified as having inadequate driving ability (failure at least in one of the tests), whereas most (8/10) healthy individuals were classified as safe drivers (P = 0.029). PaO2 and FEV1 were correlated with almost all neuropsychological tests. Conclusions. COPD patients should be warned of the potential danger and risk they face when they drive any kind of vehicle, even when they do not exhibit overt symptoms related to driving inability. This is due to the fact that stable COPD patients may manifest impaired information processing operations.

BACKGROUND: Hospital admissions for COPD exacerbations account for 70% of total costs of COPD treatment, and the duration of hospital stay is directly related to this cost. The aim of this study was to investigate possible associations of demographic, clinical, laboratory, and functional parameters with stay of subjects admitted for COPD exacerbations and to provide a score for the prediction of the need for prolonged hospitalization. METHODS: We included 164 consecutive subjects admitted to 2 respiratory medicine departments of 2 tertiary hospitals for a COPD exacerbation, and we evaluated laboratory, clinical, and functional parameters possibly related to the duration of hospital stay. RESULTS: Seven parameters evaluated on subject admission (Antonisen type of exacerbation, number of Exacerbations in the previous year, Charlson index of comorbidities, Oxygenation, Partial pressure of P aCO 2 in arterial blood gases, Dyspnea according to the Borg dyspnea scale, and history of chronic respiratory Failure) were able to predict stay and were included in a simple score named AECOPD-F. The area under the curve of the score for the prediction of prolonged hospital stay is 0.960, and a cutoff point > 3 predicts prolonged stay with a sensitivity of 84.5% and a specificity of 92.5% (95% CI 0.917-0.984). The AECOPD-F score was validated in a second group of 88 subjects admitted to the hospital for a COPD exacerbation. In the validation group, subjects with a score > 3 required prolonged stay compared with those with a score < 3 (8.0 [6.0 -10.0] vs 6.5 [4.0 -9.0] d, respectively, P ‫؍‬ .007). CONCLUSION: The AECOPD-F score could accurately predict stay in hospitalized COPD subjects. The implementation of this score in clinical practice could be useful in the discharge planning of such subjects.