Chest
Original Research: COPDEffects of Tiotropium With and Without Formoterol on Airflow Obstruction and Resting Hyperinflation in Patients With COPD
Section snippets
Patients
Patients were required to have a clinical diagnosis of COPD according to the American Thoracic Society (ATS) criteria,12 stable airways obstruction with FEV1 ≤ 60% of predicted,13 and an FEV1/FVC ratio < 70%. The patients had to be at least 40 years old, and all had to be current or previous smokers (≥ 10 pack-years).
Patients with any of the following were excluded: history of asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopy or an elevated blood eosinophil count, significant disease other than COPD, or a
Patients
A total of 100 patients were screened; 95 of them were eligible and entered the study. Of the 95 randomized patients, 91 completed the study and 4 discontinued prematurely. The reasons for withdrawal were as follows: exacerbation of COPD (one patient in the tiotropium pretreatment period and one patient in the tiotropium plus formoterol once-daily period), pneumonia (one patient in the tiotropium period), and not available for follow-up (one patient in the tiotropium plus formoterol twice-daily
Discussion
The 2003 update of the GOLD management protocol states that long-acting bronchodilators are more effective and convenient than short-acting bronchodilators. This report also emphasizes that combining bronchodilators may improve efficacy without increasing the risk of side effects compared to increasing the dose of a single bronchodilator.1
The present study investigates the additional effect of the LABA formoterol, inhaled once or twice daily, on airflow obstruction and resting hyperinflation
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank Prof. H. Folgering, Nijmegen, the Netherlands for reviewing the quality of the lung function measurements.
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Cited by (0)
Dr. Van Noord has received speaking honoraria from Boehringer Ingelheim. Mr. Mueller and Dr. Cornelissen are employees of Boehringer Ingelheim.
The study was funded by Boehringer Ingelheim.
Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (www.chestjournal.org/misc/reprints.shtml).