Severe attacks of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is significantly
associated with an increased frequency of major adverse cardiovascular events
(MACVE).
A recent research conducted in Russia and published in PubMed found that the increase
in the severity of COPD is closely linked to the increase in total frequency of MACVE
following percutaneous coronary interventions (PCCI) in patients with acute and
chronic ischemic heart disease (IHD). PCCI is a minimal procedure used to open
clogged coronary arteries in those with heart diseases. The research team said that they
studied a cohort of 254 patients with IHD and concurrent COPD and 392 patients with
IHD without COPD who had all undertaken PCCI for 36 months. The team revealed that
the incidence of MACVE in patients with IHD and COPD was 31.5, and 23.2 percent in
patients with IHD without concurrent COPD (p=0.025). They also added that the total
incidence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke was highest in
patients with severe and very severe COPD, which led them to the conclusion that the
presence of concurrent COPD increases the relative risk of MACVE by 1.36 times.