Comorbidities of COPD in Bulgarian Patients - Prevalence and Association with Severity and Inflammation

wis a disease with constantly rising economic and social burden; it is associated with multiple comorbidities which contribute to the disease severity.

To investigate the prevalence of co-morbidities in COPD patients and their association with the disease severity and CRP levels.

We conducted a retrospective study among 338 COPD patients (mean age 65.2±7.6 years) with assessment of comorbidities, spirometry measurements and serum levels of CRP. In 183 patients we found metabolic syndrome (MS) according to IDF criteria.

We found prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) of 73.5% (hyper-tension 70.4%, CHF 47.4%, ishemic heart disease 37.5%, and cardiac arrhythmias 12.6%), with higher prevalence in patients with more severe disease. We found prevalence of type 2 diabetes of 21.1%, and 12.4% prevalence of bronchiectasis. In a subpopulation of the patients we found 48.1% prevalence of MS and the serum levels of CRP were significantly higher in patients with COPD and MS compared to those without the syndrome: 7.4 (3.14 - 11. 54) mg/ml vs 4.06 (2.64 - 6.93) mg/ml, p=0.006.

The present study suggests high prevalence of CVD comorbidities in COPD patients and association with the disease severity. Metabolic syndrome is a common comorbidity and is associated with increased inflammatory response.