Purpose The prognostic value of blood eosinophils in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate whether blood eosinophils could predict in-hospital mortality and other adverse outcomes in inpatients with AECOPD. Methods The patients hospitalized for AECOPD were prospectively enrolled from ten medical centers in China. Peripheral blood eosinophils were detected on admission, and the patients were divided into eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic groups with 2% as the cutoff value. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality. Results A total of 12,831 AECOPD inpatients were included. The non-eosinophilic group was associated with higher in-hospital mortality than the eosinophilic group in the overall cohort (1.8% vs 0.7%, P < 0.001), the subgroup with pneumonia (2.3% vs 0.9%, P = 0.016) or with respiratory failure (2.2% vs 1.1%, P = 0.009), but not in the subgroup with ICU admission (8.4% vs 4.5%, P = 0.080). The lack of association still remained even after adjusting for confounding factors in subgroup with ICU admission. Being consistent across the overall cohort and all subgroups, non-eosinophilic AECOPD was also related to greater rates of invasive mechanical ventilation (4.3% vs 1.3%, P < 0.001), ICU admission (8.9% vs 4.2%, P < 0.001), and, unexpectedly, systemic corticosteroid usage (45.3% vs 31.7%, P < 0.001). Non-eosinophilic AECOPD was associated with longer hospital stay in the overall cohort and subgroup with respiratory failure (both P < 0.001) but not in those with pneumonia (P = 0.341) or ICU admission (P = 0.934). Conclusion Peripheral blood eosinophils on admission may be used as an effective biomarker to predict in-hospital mortality in most AECOPD inpatients, but not in patients admitted into ICU. Eosinophil-guided corticosteroid therapy should be further studied to better guide the administration of corticosteroids in clinical practice.

Background High blood urea nitrogen (BUN) is observed in a subset of patients with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) and may be linked to clinical outcome, but findings from previous studies have been inconsistent. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of patients prospectively enrolled in the MAGNET AECOPD Registry study (ChiCTR2100044625). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to determine the level of BUN that discriminated survivors and non-survivors. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to assess the impact of BUN on adverse outcomes. Results Overall, 13,431 consecutive inpatients with AECOPD were included in this study, of whom 173 died, with the mortality of 1.29%. The non-survivors had higher levels of BUN compared with the survivors [9.5 (6.8–15.3) vs 5.6 (4.3–7.5) mmol/L, P < 0.001]. ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cutoff of BUN level was 7.30 mmol/L for in-hospital mortality (AUC: 0.782; 95% CI: 0.748–0.816; P < 0.001). After multivariate analysis, BUN level ≥7.3 mmol/L was an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality (HR = 2.099; 95% CI: 1.378–3.197, P = 0.001), also for invasive mechanical ventilation (HR = 1.540; 95% CI: 1.199–1.977, P = 0.001) and intensive care unit admission (HR = 1.344; 95% CI: 1.117–1.617, P = 0.002). Other independent prognostic factors for in-hospital mortality including age, renal dysfunction, heart failure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, PaCO2 and D-dimer. Conclusion BUN is an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality in inpatients with AECOPD and may be used to identify serious (or severe) patients and guide the management of AECOPD. Clinical Trial Registration MAGNET AECOPD; Chinese Clinical Trail Registry NO.: ChiCTR2100044625; Registered March 2021, URL: http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=121626 .

Background The optimal tool for risk prediction of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in inpatients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is still unknown. This study aimed to evaluate whether D-dimer could predict the risk of VTE in inpatients with AECOPD compared to the Padua Prediction Score (PPS). Methods Inpatients with AECOPD were prospectively enrolled from seven medical centers in China between December 2018 and June 2020. On admission, D-dimer was detected, PPS was calculated for each patient, and the incidence of 2-month VTE was investigated. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of D-dimer and PPS on VTE development, and the best cut-off value for both methods was evaluated through the Youden index. Results Among the 4468 eligible patients with AECOPD, 90 patients (2.01%) developed VTE within 2 months after admission. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of D-dimer for predicting VTE were significantly higher than those of the PPS both in the overall cohort (0.724, 95% CI 0.672–0.776 vs 0.620, 95% CI 0.562–0.679; P<0.05) and the subgroup of patients without thromboprophylaxis (0.747, 95% CI 0.695–0.799 vs 0.640, 95% CI 0.582–0.698; P<0.05). By calculating the Youden Index, the best cut-off value of D-dimer was determined to be 0.96 mg/L with an AUC of 0.689, which was also significantly better than that of the PPS with the best cut-off value of 2 (AUC 0.581, P=0.007). After the combination of D-dimer with PPS, the AUC (0.621) failed to surpass D-dimer alone (P=0.104). Conclusion D-dimer has a superior predictive value for VTE over PPS in inpatients with AECOPD, which might be a better choice to guide thromboprophylaxis in inpatients with AECOPD due to its effectiveness and convenience. Clinical Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trail Registry NO. ChiCTR2100044625; URL: http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=121626 .

Background: Although intensively studied in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), the prognostic value of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) has little been elucidated in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). This study aimed to reveal the prognostic value of DBP in AECOPD patients. Methods: Inpatients with AECOPD were prospectively enrolled from 10 medical centers in China between September 2017 and July 2021. DBP was measured on admission. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality; invasive mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit (ICU) admission were secondary outcomes. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariable Cox regressions were used to identify independent prognostic factors and calculate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for adverse outcomes. Results: Among 13,633 included patients with AECOPD, 197 (1.45%) died during their hospital stay. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that low DBP on admission (<70 mmHg) was associated with increased risk of in-hospital mortality (HR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.533.05, Z = 4.37, P <0.01), invasive mechanical ventilation (HR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.322.05, Z = 19.67, P <0.01), and ICU admission (HR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.241.69, Z = 22.08, P <0.01) in the overall cohort. Similar findings were observed in subgroups with or without CVDs, except for invasive mechanical ventilation in the subgroup with CVDs. When DBP was further categorized in 5-mmHg increments from <50 mmHg to 100 mmHg, and 75 to <80 mmHg was taken as reference, HRs for in-hospital mortality increased almost linearly with decreased DBP in the overall cohort and subgroups of patients with CVDs; higher DBP was not associated with the risk of in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: Low on-admission DBP, particularly <70 mmHg, was associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes among inpatients with AECOPD, with or without CVDs, which may serve as a convenient predictor of poor prognosis in these patients. Clinical Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trail Registry, No. ChiCTR2100044625.

Background Hypocalcemia has been shown to be involved in the adverse outcomes of acute pulmonary embolism (APE). We aimed to determine the incremental value of adding hypocalcemia, defined as serum calcium level ≤ 2.12 mmol/L, on top of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) prognostic algorithm, for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in APE patients, which in turn could lead to the optimization of APE management. Methods This study was conducted at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2016 to December 2019. Patients with APE were retrospectively analyzed and divided into 2 groups based on serum calcium levels. Associations between hypocalcemia and adverse outcomes were assessed by Cox analysis. The accuracy of risk stratification for in-hospital mortality was assessed with the addition of serum calcium to the current ESC prognostic algorithm. Results Among 803 patients diagnosed with APE, 338 (42.1%) patients had serum calcium levels ≤ 2.12 mmol/L. Hypocalcemia was significantly associated with higher in-hospital and 2-year all-cause mortality compared to the control group. The addition of serum calcium to ESC risk stratification enhanced net reclassification improvement. Low-risk group with serum calcium level > 2.12 mmol/L had a 0% mortality rate, improving the negative predictive value up to 100%, while high-risk group with serum calcium level ≤ 2.12 mmol/L indicated a higher mortality of 25%. Conclusion Our study identified serum calcium as a novel predictor of mortality in patients with APE. In the future, serum calcium may be added to the commonly used ESC prognostic algorithm for better risk stratification of patients suffering from APE.