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The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between history of tuberculosis and airflow obstruction.A population-based, multicentre study was carried out and included 5,571 subjects aged o40 yrs living in one of five Latin American metropolitan areas: Sao Paulo (Brazil); Montevideo (Uruguay); Mexico City (Mexico); Santiago (Chile); and Caracas (Venezuela). Subjects performed pre-and post-bronchodilator spirometry and were asked whether they had ever been diagnosed with tuberculosis by a physician.The overall prevalence of airflow obstruction (forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity post-bronchodilator ,0.7) was 30.7% among those with a history of tuberculosis, compared with 13.9% among those without a history. Males with a medical history of tuberculosis were 4.1 times more likely to present airflow obstruction than those without such a diagnosis. This remained unchanged after adjustment for confounding by age, sex, schooling, ethnicity, smoking, exposure to dust and smoke, respiratory morbidity in childhood and current morbidity. Among females, the unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios were 2.3 and 1.7, respectively.In conclusion, history of tuberculosis is associated with airflow obstruction in Latin American middle-aged and older adults.

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Little information exists regarding the epidemiology of the chronic bronchitis phenotype in unselected chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) populations. We examined the prevalence of the chronic bronchitis phenotype in COPD and non-COPD subjects from the PLATINO study, and investigated how it is associated with important outcomes.Post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity ,0.70 was used to define COPD. Chronic bronchitis was defined as phlegm on most days, at least 3 months per year for o2 yrs. We also analysed another definition: cough and phlegm on most days, at least 3 months per year for o2 yrs.Spirometry was performed in 5,314 subjects (759 with and 4,554 without COPD). The proportion of subjects with and without COPD with chronic bronchitis defined as phlegm on most days, at least 3 months per year for o2 yrs was 14.4 and 6.2%, respectively. Using the other definition the prevalence was lower: 7.4% with and 2.5% without COPD. Among subjects with COPD, those with chronic bronchitis had worse lung function and general health status, and had more respiratory symptoms, physical activity limitation and exacerbations.Our study helps to understand the prevalence of the chronic bronchitis phenotype in an unselected COPD population at a particular time-point and suggests that chronic bronchitis in COPD is possibly associated with worse outcomes.

Introdução: O termo qualidade de vida tem adquirido cada vez mais importância no contexto científico. O presente estudo descreve a adaptação para as língua e cultura brasileiras de um questionário doença-específico desenvolvido por Paul Jones et al. em 1991(1): o Questionário do Hospital Saint George na Doença Respiratória (SGRQ), para a avaliação de qualidade de vida em pacientes portadores de doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica (DPOC). Esse questionário contém três componentes (sintomas, atividade e impactos) divididos em 76 itens. É auto-administrado e pode ser lido para pacientes analfabetos. Objetivo: Verificar se o SGRQ é um instrumento válido para medir qualidade de vida em pacientes portadores de DPOC no Brasil. Métodos: Para a validação deste questionário no Brasil, realizou-se, inicialmente, uma versão da língua inglesa para o português; em seguida, foi realizada a tradução retrógrada (back translation), do português para o inglês, e uma versão final foi aplicada em 30 pacientes com diagnóstico de DPOC, estáveis clinicamente e baseado em critérios de espirometria e oximetria. Os pacientes responderam ao questionário por duas vezes, num intervalo de 15 dias. O tempo de resposta foi cronometrado e as dúvidas apontadas pelos pacientes, anotadas. Foi utilizado o teste estatístico de Wilcoxon para cálculo de probabilidade de r e calculado o coeficiente de correlação intraclasse para testar a fidedignidade e a confiabilidade do questionário. Resultados: Dos 30 pacientes que participaram do estudo, 10 eram do sexo feminino e 20 do masculino. A média de idade foi de 65,9 anos. A maioria dos pacientes encontrava-se no estádio 2 (56,7%) da DPOC, segundo a classificação da American Thoracic Society. O coeficiente de correlação intraclasse para a pontuação total do questionário foi a = 0,79 e o resultado do teste de Wilcoxon p = 0,2110 (não significante estatisticamente). O tempo médio de resposta dos dois dias de entrevista foi, respectivamente, 11 minutos e 50 segundos e 10 minutos e 31 segundos. Em relação às dúvidas, as questões mais freqüentemente referidas foram as das seções 4 e 5, que contêm uma frase cada na forma negativa. Conclusão: Pode-se concluir que a versão brasileira do Questionário do Hospital Saint George na Doença Respiratória (SGRQ) é um instrumento válido e fidedigno para medir qualidade de vida em pacientes portadores de DPOC no Brasil.

In order to clarify the possible role of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in the treatment of patients with chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we have carried out a metaanalysis testing the available evidence that NAC treatment may be effective in preventing exacerbations of chronic bronchitis or COPD and evaluating whether there is a substantial difference between the responses induced by low (⩽600 mg per day) and high (>600 mg per day) doses of NAC.The results of the present meta-analysis (13 studies, 4155 COPD patients, NAC n=1933; placebo or controls n=2222) showed that patients treated with NAC had significantly and consistently fewer exacerbations of chronic bronchitis or COPD (relative risk 0.75, 95% CI 0.66-0.84; p<0.01), although this protective effect was more apparent in patients without evidence of airway obstruction. However, high doses of NAC were also effective in patients suffering from COPD diagnosed using spirometric criteria (relative risk 0.75, 95% CI 0.68-0.82; p=0.04). NAC was well tolerated and the risk of adverse reactions was not dose-dependent (low doses relative risk 0.93, 95% CI 0.89-0.97; p=0.40; high doses relative risk 1.11, 95% CI 0.89-1.39; p=0.58).The strong signal that comes from this meta-analysis leads us to state that if a patient suffering from chronic bronchitis presents a documented airway obstruction, NAC should be administered at a dose of ⩾1200 mg per day to prevent exacerbations, while if a patient suffers from chronic bronchitis, but is without airway obstruction, a regular treatment of 600 mg per day seems to be sufficient. @ERSpublications Evidence that high doses of NAC protect against COPD exacerbations with a favourable riskbenefit ratio http://ow.ly/NeSbl

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