Clinical Features of COPD Flashcards
What does COPD stand up for?
Chronic obstructory pulmonary disease
What is COPD characterised by?
Chronic obstruction of lung airflow that interferes with normal breathing and is not fully reversible
What is included in the diagnosis of COPD?
Chronic bronchitis and emphysema
What is COPD usually caused by?
Significant exposure to noxious particles or gases
What is the aetiology of COPD?
Smoking
Pollutants
Host factors
What is the patho-biology of COPD?
Impaired lung growth
Accelerated decline
Lung injury
Lung and systemic inflammation
What is pathobiology?
Branch of biology that deals with pathology with a greater emphasis on the biological than the medical aspects
What is the pathology of COPD?
Small airway disorders of abnormalities
Emphysema
Systemic effects
What are the clinical manifestations of COPD?
Symptoms
Exacerbations
Comorbidities
What are comorbidities?
Presence of one or more additional diseases co-occuring with a primary disease
What is the presence of one or more additional disease co-occurring with a primary disease called?
Comorbidities
What is pathology?
Medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis of diseases based on the laboratory analysis of bodily fluids
What is the primary cause of COPD?
Tobacco smoke
What predisposes COPD?
Increasing age and female sex
What does predisposes mean?
Makes someone liable to a specific condition
What can factors that affect lung growth during gestation and childhood affect?
Future risk of COPD

What deficiency is linked to early onset COPD?
Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency
What is the prevalence of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency?
Rare inherited disease
What is an early onset of COPD considered as?
Younger than 45 years old
What is alpha-1-antitrypsin?
Proteast inhibitor made in the liver which limits damage caused by activating neutrophils releasing elastase in response to infection/cigarette smoke
What does absent or low alpha-1-antitrypsin lead to?
Alveolar damage and emphysema
What are some common alpha-1-antitrypsin phenotypes?
PiMM (100% normal)
PiMS (80% normal serum levels)
PiSS (60% normal serum levels)
PiMZ (40% normal serum levels)
PiZZ (10-15% normal serum levels)
What serum levels is PiMM?
100%
What serum levels is PiMS?
80%





