Medical Specialties Commons^™

Reducing The Risk Of Mortality In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease With Pharmacotherapy: A Narrative Review, Matthew Mintz, Igor Barjaktarevic, Donald A. Mahler, Barry Make, Neil Skolnik, Barbara Yawn, Bree Zeyzus-Johns, Nicola A. Hanania

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

In 2020, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the fifth leading cause of death in the United States excluding COVID-19, and its mortality burden has been rising since the 1980s. Smoking cessation, long-term oxygen therapy, noninvasive ventilation, and lung volume reduction surgery have had a beneficial effect on mortality; however, until recently, the effects of pharmacologic therapies on all-cause mortality have been unclear. Inhaled pharmacologic treatments for patients with COPD include combinations of long-acting muscarinic receptor antagonists (LAMAs), long-acting-β2-agonists (LABAs), and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). The recent IMPACT and ETHOS clinical trials reported mortality benefits with ICS/LAMA/LABA triple therapy compared with …