Published in:
01-12-2020 | Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease | Research
Endothelial dysfunction is not a predictor of outcome in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Published in: Respiratory Research | Issue 1/2020
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Background
Local airway inflammation may cause systemic changes which result in endothelial dysfunction. Only a few studies have used reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in order to measure their endothelial dysfunction.
Objective
To determine the efficacy of endothelial dysfunction, measured by RH-PAT, in assessing disease severity and systemic burden in a cohort of COPD patients.
Methods
In this prospective, monocentric study, 157 patients with moderate to very severe COPD (GOLD class II-IV) were examined for endothelial dysfunction using RH-PAT (Itamar medical Ltd., Caesarea, Israel). In a nested-cohort, examination was repeated at exacerbation. The association between reactive hyperemia index (RHI), augmentation index (AI) and disease severity and outcome parameters was analysed.
Results
57% of the COPD patients had a dysfunctional endothelium and the median (IQR) RHI was 1.42 (1.27–1.53). Exacerbation of COPD was not associated with a significant change in RHI (p = 0.625) or ΑΙ (p = 0.530). None of the diagnostic or clinical outcomes of COPD was associated with RHI or arterial stiffness.
Conclusion
Endothelial dysfunction is common in COPD. However, it does not seem to be a predictor neither of disease severity, nor of outcome and does not change during exacerbations of the disease.