Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep & Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, Omaha Nebraska 68198-5910, USA.
Respir Care. 2011 Aug;56(8):1181-7. doi: 10.4187/respcare.01419.
COPD is a complex collection of conditions. All share the feature of limited expiratory air flow. It is a "disease" in the same sense as is "chronic renal failure." Like most other chronic organ failure "diseases," COPD has disparate causes, and patients are heterogeneous in their prognosis and response to treatment. Unlike many other diseases, the heterogeneity of COPD is just beginning to be described. A number of large trials funded by the National Institutes of Health and industry promise to refine the classification of COPD. Based on accurate diagnosis of COPD subtypes, novel treatments can be more effectively developed and implemented. The clinical implications of improved understanding of COPD heterogeneity will be better care and outcomes for COPD patients, which will depend on increased diagnostic accuracy and selective administration of treatments.
COPD 是一组复杂的病症。所有病症都有呼气气流受限的特征。它是一种“疾病”，就像“慢性肾衰竭”一样。与大多数其他慢性器官衰竭“疾病”一样，COPD 的病因各不相同，患者的预后和对治疗的反应也存在差异。与许多其他疾病不同，COPD 的异质性才刚刚开始被描述。美国国立卫生研究院和工业界资助的多项大型试验有望完善 COPD 的分类。基于 COPD 亚型的准确诊断，可以更有效地开发和实施新的治疗方法。对 COPD 异质性的认识的提高将带来更好的临床效果，这将取决于诊断准确性的提高和治疗方法的选择性应用。
