Study Of Clinical, Radiological And Pulmonary Function Characteristics Of Patients Having Asthma COPD Overlap

Dr Tanmay Jain; Dr Jigna Dave; Dr Jilan Mehta

Volume : VIII, Issue : VI, June - 2019

Study Of Clinical, Radiological And Pulmonary Function Characteristics Of Patients Having Asthma COPD Overlap

Dr Tanmay Jain, Dr Jigna Dave, Dr Jilan Mehta

Abstract :

As there is no gold standard for the diagnosis of ACOS one cannot be absolutely sure that newly diagnosed COPD patients with BDR and/or self-reported wheezing always have ACO. However, in spite of that, the present study may provide important knowledge with regard to identification of patients with possible ACO among new patients diagnosed with COPD. In this study, 100 syndromically defined ACOS patients were studied in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Detailed history was taken with respect to demographic characteristics, clinical symptoms, grade of dyspnoea, past history of smoking, duration of smoking, frequency of exacerbations. Complete blood count and a chest x-ray were done . Their lung functions were studied. Results show that majority of the patients classified as ACO had eathlessness and wheezing as major symptoms, had positive smoking history with high number of exacerbations and more than 50% of the patients had an obstructive pattern along with significant onchodilator response in pulmonary function tests. The majority of patients with COPD are diagnosed and managed in primary care, and as wheezing and BDR are easy to detect characteristics also in primary care, our findings may offer substantial guidance for general practitioners to screen for possible ACOS among their patients with COPD, although further diagnostic work-up is likely to be needed.