RESUMO
To assess the usefulness of measuring arterial carboxy-haemoglobin [Hb -Co%] level in monitoring the disease activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]. We measured FVC, FEVl, FEVl/ FVC%, PaO2, PaCO2 and arterial Hb-CO% in 51 patients with COPD and 50 control subjects. Hb-CO% in patients at stable conditions were higher than those in control subjects [p<0.01]. Furthermore, the Hb-CO% concentrations in patients at the exacerbations [p<0.01] were higher than those at the stable conditions. Hb-CO% concentrations in patients at stage II were higher than those in patients at stage I, in patients at stage III were higher than those in patients at stage II and in patients at stage IV were higher than those in patients at stage III at the stable conditions and exacerbations. Hb-CO% inversely correlated with the arterial blood partial oxygen pressure and FEVl. These findings suggest that Hb-CO% is an inflammatory marker and could be used not only for monitoring of COPD, but also can determine the stage of the disease. This means that we can predict the disease state in patients with COPD bydoing arterial blood gas [Hb-CO%]