Waqas Ahmad, Saadia Ashraf, Abdul Wahab, Rukhsana Farooqi, Hussain Ahmad.
Frequency of Blood Eosinophilia in COPD patients admitted with Acute Exacerbation.
Pak J Chest Med Jan ;26(1):29-32.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: COPD is a heterogeneous disorder displaying variable clinical and pathophysiological features.Different phenotypes have been recognized that differ in respect to their biomarker profiles and response to treatment. Eosinophilic airway inflammation has been identified in significant number of COPD patients. OBJECTIVE : The objective of our study was to determine the frequency of blood eosinophilia in COPD patients admitted with acute exacerbation.  METHODS:   This was a cross-sectional study conducted at pulmonology unit KTH, Peshawar  from 10-12-2016 to 10-06-2017.All the COPD patients admitted with acute exacerbation (diagnosed by spirometry i.e post bronchodilator FEV 1 /FVC less than 70) were enrolled in the study. Exclusion criteria were strictly followed to control confounding factors in our study. The age and gender of the patient was documented and blood eosinophil count was measured for each patient using a standardized method to eliminate bias. All the data was collected on a structured proforma and analyzed via SPSS v.19.Results were presented as tables/graphs and descriptive statistics were performed for qualitative variables. Results:   Out of 139 patients, 73 (52.5 %) were male and 66 (47.5%) were female. The mean age of the study population was 58.65 + 8.1. Most of the patients were concentrated in the age group 51-60(44.88%). Furthermore, 33 (23.74%) of COPD patients were found to have blood eosinophilia. Among the 33 patients found to have eosinophilia, 20 (68.42%) were male and 13 (31.57%) were female. CONCLUSION: Approximately one quarter of COPD patients were found to have blood eosinophilia in this study. More than half of the COPD  patients admitted with acute exacerbation ,having eosinophilia were male. KEY WORDS :Blood eosinophilia; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GOLD

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