COPD: Emerging Trends in Treatment Options
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Trends in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients with COPD
Neil R. MacIntyre, MD, FCCP
COPD is a growing public health problem as smokers from the last half of the 20th century are reaching the age when symptoms become manifest. Diagnosis requires good history taking (especially for smoking exposure) and spirometric evidence of airflow obstruction. Pharmacotherapy is aimed at reducing symptoms and minimizing exacerbations. Rehabilitation programs are effective in restoring significant function. Finally, surgical options, such as lung volume reduction or transplantation, should be offered to selected individuals with severe COPD.
New Pharmacologic Options and Products Available for COPD
Stephen C. Lazarus, MD
Pharmacotherapy for COPD has traditionally been directed at symptom relief. Recent data demonstrate the potential for reducing exacerbations, and current research and therapy must now consider a variety of mid- and long-term outcomes. Increased knowledge about the mechanisms of COPD has led to new applications of old drugs and to novel therapies directed at new targets in the pathophysiologic cascade.
Optimal Drug Delivery Options
Fernando J. Martinez, MD, MS, FCCP
Therapeutic options in pulmonary disease are rapidly evolving with a range of new pharmacologic agents available or under development. Targeting these agents to the lung is accepted as a crucial component of therapy. As such, it is important to appreciate the large number of devices for drug delivery that are currently available. Similarly, the ability to select individual devices based on the age and capability of patient, as well as the cost to third-party payers and the patient, are important. Increasingly, the Food and Drug Administration has become involved in approving specific devices and emphasizing the need to create simplicity and reproducible delivery of a wide range of therapeutic compounds. This presentation will present the current state-of-the-art devices used to deliver medications to the lungs of patients.
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