[Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Archivos de Bronconeumología in the year 2009]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) continues to be a disease of special importance due to its great social impact arising from its high prevalence, its high morbidity and mortality and the high health costs it incurs. This has led to a great number of articles on different aspects associated with COPD each year. There is increasingly greater emphasis made of the systemic repercussions of the diseases and its comorbidity. In that same sense, tools are being sought to be able to make a more accurate prognosis of the diseases and assess other different aspects of lung function. Some standards on the quality of healthcare in COPD have also been published during this year, as well as some recommendations of the care of these patients in the advanced phase. An attempt is made in this article to summarise the more outstanding COPD articles published in Archivos de Bronconeumología during the past year.