GOLD 2011 A-D CHART under the microscope: Responding to COPD physiopathogeny with implications in disease management

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to analyze sputum cellular phenotype in patients with a diagnosis of COPD classified according to the A-D chart. We included patients of both genders, aged ≥ 60 years, who were former smokers of at least 10 packets/year, with a diagnosis of COPD under stable conditions. They were classified according to the 2011 GOLD criteria into clinical categories A, B, C, D and their bronchial inflammatory pattern was analyzed using sputum cytology. Eighty-five patients with a diagnosis of COPD were divided into category A (19), B (29), C (19) and D (18); the age of the latter was significantly higher than the rest of the patients. The predominant cellular pattern in sputum was eosinophilic (43), neutrophilic (17), mixed (9) and paucigranulocytic (16). The distribution of the predominant cellular pattern in connection with each COPD clinical group was statistically significant p ≤ 0.001. The neutrophilic cellular phenotype was predominant in group A; the eosinophilic and mixed phenotypes in groups B and C, and in group D, even though eosinophils were present, the predominant pattern was neutrophilic. We concluded that this study identified inflammatory cellular patterns that distinguish each group in the COPD A-D chart, which can contribute to explain their heterogeneous nature, customize treatment and, most of all, identify patients at risk of disease onset and perpetuation at an early stage.