CT-evident mucus plugs in COPD associated with death

A case-control, observational, longitudinal study of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) determined that the detection of airway mucus plugs in CT scans is associated with all-cause mortality, as well as with respiratory and cancer deaths.

Mucus dysfunction is a central pathophysiologic feature of COPD that is measurable on CT and is associated with lung function impairment. The COPDGene study (NCT00608764) aimed to assess whether airway mucus plugs detected on CT are associated with mortality in smokers with COPD [1]. The study observed 4,363 participants with COPD who were smokers and had CT images with mucus plugs scored. Dr Alejandro Diaz (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, MA, USA) presented the data.

With a median follow-up of 8.5 years, 1,490 patients had died (34%). A Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that a high airway mucus plug score was associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality (see Figure). Similarly, the mucus plug score was associated with a higher risk of respiratory and cancer deaths.

Figure: High airway mucus plug scores are associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality [1]



Dr Diaz concluded that “the findings support airway mucus plugs as a clinically relevant imaging biomarker.”

1. Diaz A, et al. Airway Mucus Plugs and Mortality in COPD: Findings from the COPDGene Study. Session D14, ATS International Conference 2022, San Francisco, CA, USA, 13–18 May.

 

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Posted on 18 July 20223 August 2022