Lecture 8.1: COPD Flashcards
What is the long form of COPD?
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
What is COPD?
- The name for a group of lung
conditions that cause breathing
difficulties - It includes: emphysema (damage to
the air sacs in the lungs), chronic
bronchitis (long-term inflammation of
the airways)
What is COPD predominantly caused by?
Smoking
What is COPD characterised by (NICE)?
- COPD is characterised by airflow
obstruction - The airflow obstruction is usually
progressive - Not fully reversible
- Does not change markedly over
several months
How many people in the UK are living with COPD?
1.2 million
Risk Factors for COPD (7)
- Smoking
- Coal Mining/Mining of any kind really
- Asbestos Exposure
- People with Asthma
- Exposure to fumes from burning fuel
- Occupational exposure to dusts and
chemicals - Genetics
Causes of COPD (4)
- Vast majority in HICs due to smoking
- Alpha-1 anti-trypsin deficiency
- Occupational exposure (e.g. coal dust)
- Pollution (including indoor smoke
pollution)
What percentage of Smokers get COPD?
15%
What is Emphysema?
- A pathological process in which there is
destruction of the terminal bronchioles
and distal airspaces - Leads to loss of alveolar surface area
- Spaces get bigger to form bullae
Why do small airways collapse in Emphysema?
- Spaces get bigger to form bullae
- Destruction of tissues removes
‘scaffolding’ support of small airways,
which tend to collapse - Leads to airflow obstruction
What is Pulmonary Compliance?
A measure of the lung expandability
What is the Equation of Pulmonary Compliance?
Compliance = Δvolume/Δpleural pressure
What is the effect of loss of tissue in Emphysema?
- Loss of tissue increases compliance
- Lung recoil reduced so lungs have
higher resting expiratory level - Hyperinflation
Centrilobular/Centriacinar Emphysema
- Primarily the upper lobes
- Occurs with loss of the respiratory
bronchioles in the proximal portion of
the acinus - With sparing of distal alveoli
Panlobular/Panacinar Emphysema
- Involves all lung fields
- Particularly the bases
What is Chronic Bronchitis?
A daily productive cough that lasts for 3 months of the year and for at least 2 years in a row