Last update:
14-Oct-2014

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous inflammatory disease with pathological and pathophysiological variations, clinical subtypes and extrapulmonary manifestations which define the burden of the disease contribute to its systemic profile and exacerbate the disability. The definition of subgroups of patients with similar characteristics, such as the degree of emphysema, the body mass index (BMI), susceptibility to infections, frequency of exacerbations and the degree of reversibility of the airway obstruction, allow more accurate staging and prognosis and the design of more effective treatment, aimed at providing adequate and effective management of the disease while protecting the patients from the adverse effects of multipharmacy. The need for novel personalized treatment of COPD leads to the description of three phenotypic categories of COPD, from which four therapeutic groups are derived, based on clinical, anatomical and physiological characteristics and the susceptibility to infections.

Key words: Biomarkers, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Human, Phenotype, Review.