Stratification of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Using Volatile Organic Compounds

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease that causes long-term disability and death. Its natural history is punctuated by acute worsening of symptoms, called exacerbations, which are associated with increased mortality and hospitalization. In this work, we aim to stratify patients with COPD based on their risk for exacerbation; for this purpose, we employ non-invasive biomarkers, that is, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), acquired from the patients' exhaled breath coupled with their spirometry and age. We utilize a series of classification schemes with the best performing one achieving overall Accuracy = 93.5%. The yielded results are, therefore, encouraging and prompt for further investigation toward the utilization of VOCs in the management of COPD.