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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is currently the fourth leading cause of death in the world and its incidence and prevalence is on the rise. It is evident that COPD is linked to cardiovascular disease. In the last years, several studies demonstrated that COPD may also be a risk factor for stroke, another major cause of death worldwide. Taking in consideration that COPD has multiple comorbidities it is hard to say whether COPD is an independent risk factor for stroke or it is due to confounding effect. This review is aimed to discuss current data on COPD and stroke, potential links, therapy, and prevention. Current data suggest that COPD may increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. The incidence of other stroke subtypes may also be increased in COPD or may be due to confounding effect. However, COPD patients who have stroke are at risk for pulmonary and extrapulmonary complications. We conclude that more studies are needed to further clarify the links between COPD and stroke. The management of COPD as well as the use of prevention therapy is essential to decrease the risk for stroke and should be at special attention in pulmonary medicine and neurology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous and complex disease with great morbidity and mortality. Despite the new developments in the managements of COPD, it was recognized that not all patients benefit from the available medications. Therefore, efforts to identify subgroups or phenotypes had been made in order to predict who will respond to a class of drugs for COPD. This review will discuss phenotypes, endotypes, and subgroups such as the frequent exacerbator, the one with systemic inflammation, the fast decliner, ACOS, and the one with co-morbidities and their impact on therapy. It became apparent, that the “inflammatory” phenotypes: frequent exacerbator, chronic bronchitic, and those with a number of co-morbidities need inhaled corticosteroids; in contrast, the emphysematous type with dyspnea and lung hyperinflation, the fast decliner, need dual bronchodilation (deflators). However, larger, well designed studies clustering COPD patients are needed, in order to identify the important subgroups and thus, to lead to personalize management in COPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]