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Chronic bronchitis is a chronic, progressive disease that is difficult to treat. Despite much effort, patients remain highly symptomatic. Currently, a number of innovative bronchoscopic treatments for this disease are under investigation. Liquid nitrogen metered cryospray, bronchial rheoplasty and balloon desobstruction all aim to destroy the hyperplastic goblet cells and excess submucous glands using different strategies. These therapies are in an early phase of clinical research and larger randomised controlled trials are needed to confirm the pilot data available and to evaluate the treatment durability. The fourth technique, targeted lung denervation (TLD), aims to decrease the release of acetylcholine, which regulates smooth muscle tone and mucus production by ablating the parasympathetic nerves running alongside the main bronchi. Evaluation of this treatment is at a more advanced stage and promising effects on exacerbation frequency have been shown. However, confirmation of the benefit in improvement in chronic bronchitis symptoms is still needed.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a condition commonly present in older people undergoing surgery and confers an increased risk of postoperative complications and mortality. Although predominantly a respiratory disease, it frequently has extra‐pulmonary manifestations and typically occurs in the context of other long‐term conditions. Patients experience a range of symptoms that affect their quality of life, functional ability and clinical outcomes. In this review, we discuss the evidence for techniques to optimise the care of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the peri‐operative period, and address potential new interventions to improve outcomes. The article centres on pulmonary rehabilitation, widely available for the treatment of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but less often used in a peri‐operative setting. Current evidence is largely at high risk of bias, however. Before surgery it is important to ensure that what have been called the ‘five fundamentals’ of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment are achieved: smoking cessation; pulmonary rehabilitation; vaccination; self‐management; and identification and optimisation of co‐morbidities. Pharmacological treatment should also be optimised, and some patients may benefit from lung volume reduction surgery. Psychological and behavioural factors are important, but are currently poorly understood in the peri‐operative period. Considerations of the risk and benefits of delaying surgery to ensure the recommended measures are delivered depends on patient characteristics and the nature and urgency of the planned intervention.

COPD is diagnosed and evaluated by pulmonary function testing (PFT). Chest computed tomography (CT) primarily serves a descriptive role for diagnosis and severity evaluation. CT densitometry-based emphysema quantification and lobar fissure integrity assessment are most commonly used, mainly for lung volume reduction purposes and scientific efforts.A shift towards a more quantitative role for CT to assess pulmonary function is a logical next step, since more, currently underutilised, information is present in CT images. For instance, lung volumes such as residual volume and total lung capacity can be extracted from CT; these are strongly correlated to lung volumes measured by PFT.This review assesses the current evidence for use of quantitative CT as a proxy for PFT in COPD and discusses challenges in the movement towards CT as a more quantitative modality in COPD diagnosis and evaluation. To better understand the relevance of the traditional PFT measurements and the role CT might play in the replacement of these parameters, COPD pathology and traditional PFT measurements are discussed.

Background: Pneumothorax after bronchoscopic lung volume reduction using one-way endobronchial valves (EBVs) in patients with advanced emphysema occurs in approximately 20% of patients. It is not well known which factors predict the development of pneumothorax. Objective: To assess whether pleural adhesions on pretreatment high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans are associated with pneumothorax occurrence after EBV treatment. Methods: HRCT scan analyses were performed on all patients who received EBV treatment in a randomized controlled trial. Three blinded readers scored adhesions by number and by measuring the longest axis of each pleural adhesion in the treated lung. The Pleural Adhesion Score (PAS) was calculated by adding 1 point for each small pleural lesion (5 mm). Results: The HRCT scans of 64 treated patients were assessed, of whom 14 developed pneumothorax. Patients who developed pneumothorax had a higher median number of pleural adhesions, 2.7 (IQR 1.9-4) compared to 1.7 (1-2.7) adhesions in the group without pneumothorax (p < 0.01). The PAS in the group with pneumothorax was higher compared to that in the group without: 14.3 (12.4-24.1) versus 6.7 (3.7-11.2) (p < 0.01). A threshold PAS of ≥12 was associated with a higher risk of pneumothorax (OR 13.0, 95% CI 3.1-54.9). A score Conclusion: A higher number of pleural adhesions on HRCT with a subsequent higher PAS in the treated lung is associated with a higher occurrence of pneumothorax after EBV treatment.

Background: Adequate target lobe selection for endobronchial valve (EBV) treatment in patients with severe emphysema is essential for treatment success and can be based on emphysema destruction, lobar perfusion, lobar volume, and collateral ventilation. As some patients have >1 target lobe for EBV treatment, we were interested whether we could identify the least functional lobe. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between endoscopic lobar measurement of oxygen uptake, lobar destruction, and vascular volume, and whether this could help in identifying the least functional lobe and thus optimal target for EBV treatment. Method: We prospectively included patients who were scheduled for EBV treatment in our hospital. A customized gas analysis setup was used to measure lobar O2 uptake after lobar balloon occlusion. Quantitative CT analysis was performed to assess the degree of emphysematous destruction and lobar arterial and venous volumes. Results: Twenty-one (5 male/16 female) patients with emphysema (median age 63 years, FEV1 25% of predicted, residual volume 234% of predicted) were included, and 49 endoscopic lobar measurements were performed. A lower O2 uptake significantly correlated with a higher degree of emphysematous lobar destruction (Spearman’s ρ: 0.39, p < 0.01), and lower arterial and venous vascular volumes of the lobes (–0.46 and –0.47, respectively; both p < 0.001). Conclusions: Endoscopic measurement of lobar O2 uptake is feasible in patients with emphysema. Measurement of lobar O2 uptake helped to identify the least functional lobe and can be used as additional tool for EBV target lobe selection.

Background: Patients who achieve significant target lobe volume reduction (TLVR) following endobronchial valve (EBV) treatment may experience substantial improvements in clinical outcome measures. However, in cases of rapid TLVR, the risk of pneumothorax increases due to parenchymal rupture of the adjacent untreated lobe. Target lobe collapse may be more likely in EBV-treated patients who have low collateral ventilation. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of pneumothorax on outcome following EBV treatment. Methods: Data from three prospective clinical trials (the US and European cohorts of VENT and the Multicenter Chartis study) were retrieved for the analysis. All patients had undergone chest X-ray within 24 h of EBV implantation to explore the presence of pneumothorax. TLVR was assessed at either 30 (Chartis study) or 180 days (VENT), and clinical outcome measures (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and 6-min-walk distance (6-MWD)) were assessed 180 days after implantation. Results: The overall rate of pneumothorax following valve therapy was 5.9% (25/421). Among these patients, 68% had a prolonged air leak for >7 days. However, patients who experienced a pneumothorax benefitted from EBV therapy, with a mean TLVR of 65% (n = 20). The mean percent change in FEV1 was 15 ± 15%, and the mean change in SGRQ was -7 ± 12 points. Conclusions: Although pneumothorax is a complication of EBV placement, it does not appear to have a negative impact on clinical outcome in terms of FEV1 and health-related quality of life.

The St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) is a validated, commonly used questionnaire for measuring quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The current established minimal important difference (MID) for SGRQ scores in an average COPD population is −4 units. However, for patients with severe COPD, the MID has not been thoroughly validated. We re-determined the SGRQ MID for this patient group.115 severe COPD patients (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) 26±9% of predicted, SGRQ score 62±11 units; mean±sd,) who participated in seven different bronchoscopic lung volume reduction clinical trials were included in the analysis. Anchor- and distribution-based methods were used to define the MID for SGRQ scores. FEV1, 6-min walk distance and residual volume were used as anchors.Combining both anchor- and distribution-based methods, we identified a SGRQ MID of −8.3 units at 1 month and −7.1 units at 6 months.This study proposes an alternative SGRQ MID for patients with severe COPD of −8.3 units at 1 month and −7.1 units at 6 months follow-up after intervention. Our new MID estimates could be applied for both interpreting SGRQ outcomes as well as sample size determination in future clinical trials investigating interventions in severe COPD patients.