Skeletal muscle dysfunction in COPD: clinical and laboratory observations

Abstract

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), although primarily a disease of the lungs, exhibits secondary systemic manifestations. The skeletal muscles are of particular interest because their function (or dysfunction) not only influences the symptoms that limit exercise, but may contribute directly to poor exercise performance. Furthermore, skeletal muscle weakness is of great clinical importance in COPD as it is recognized to contribute independently to poor health status, increased healthcare utilization and even mortality. The present review describes the current knowledge of the structural and functional abnormalities of skeletal muscles in COPD and the possible aetiological factors. Increasing knowledge of the molecular pathways of muscle wasting will lead to the development of new therapeutic agents and strategies to combat COPD muscle dysfunction.

Practical recommendations for exercise training in patients with COPD

“…As COPD is a disease with extrapulmonary, systemic manifestations such as muscle dysfunction [18], it is also important to assess peripheral muscle function. Muscle strength is usually expressed as the maximal voluntary isometric force of a muscle.…”

Electromyographic Manifestations of Fatigue Correlate With Pulmonary Function, 6-Minute Walk Test, and Time to Exhaustion in COPD

“…In addition, they predict mortality, morbidity, and patient quality of life better than lung function measures. 6 Fatigability is usually assessed by the time to exhaustion in conjunction with electromyography (EMG). Surface EMG has been used to characterize neuromuscular fatigue during isometric tasks.…”

Aplicación del test de caminata de 6 minutos en la valoración del sujeto con EPOC

“…Produce en los sujetos con enfermedad pulmonar avanzada alteraciones funcionales que se manifiestan con disnea e intolerancia a las actividades de la vida diaria y al ejercicio (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10).…”