Associations of CT evaluations of antigravity muscles, emphysema and airway disease with longitudinal outcomes in patients with COPD.

Multiple CT indices are associated with disease progression and mortality in patients with COPD, but which indices have the strongest association remain unestablished. This longitudinal 10-year observational study (n=247) showed that the emphysema severity on CT is more closely associated with the progression of airflow limitation and that a reduction in the cross-sectional area of erector spinae muscles (ESM) on CT is more closely associated with mortality than the other CT indices, independent of patient demographics and pulmonary function. ESM is a useful CT index that is more closely associated with long-term mortality than emphysema and airway disease in patients with COPD.