inics and 2 Spanish clinics. The median follow-up period with the patients was 34 months. About 73 percent of the patients (503) were from the 2 U.S. clinics. (Patients with COPD have persistent obstruction of the airways associated with either emphysema or chronic bronchitis, which usually results from years of heavy cigarette smoking.) Of the 689 outpatients involved, 183 (27 percent) died during follow-up. They were older, had a lower body mass index, showed poorer lung function scores, walked a shorter distance during the 6-minute walking test, and had more breathlessness (dyspnea), according to the authors. As expressed by the new test, static lung hyperinflation or resting hyperinflation showed a cutoff point of 25 percent, with 286 patients (42 percent) demonstrating a less than 25 percent score and 403 patients (58 percent) scoring higher than 25 percent. However, among the patients who died, 71 percent had test scores under 25 percent. The investigators recommend that the new test be used in future assessments of patients with COPD. The study is published in the second issue for March 2005 of the American Thoracic Society's peer-reviewed American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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Contact: Cathy Carlomagno
ccarlomagno@thoracic.org
212-315-6442
American Thoracic Society
15-Mar-2005

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