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Previous Volume 348:2618-2625 June 26, 2003 Number 26 Next

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text PowerPoint Slide Set Editorial by Irwin, R. S. Letters Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited E-mail When Letters Appear PubMed Citation

ABSTRACT

Background In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we studied the effectiveness of prednisone in reducing the risk of relapse after outpatient exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods We enrolled 147 patients who were being discharged from the emergency department after an exacerbation of COPD and randomly assigned them to 10 days of treatment with 40 mg of oral prednisone once daily or identical-appearing placebo. All patients received oral antibiotics for 10 days, plus inhaled bronchodilators. The primary end point was relapse, defined as an unscheduled visit to a physician's office or a return to the emergency department because of worsening dyspnea, within 30 days after randomization.

Results The overall rate of relapse at 30 days was lower in the prednisone group than in the placebo group (27 percent vs. 43 percent, P=0.05), and the time to relapse was prolonged in those taking prednisone (P=0.04). After 10 days of therapy, patients in the prednisone group had greater improvements in forced expiratory volume in one second than did patients in the placebo group (mean [±SD] increase from base line, 34±42 percent vs. 15±31 percent; P=0.007). Patients in the prednisone group also had significant improvements in dyspnea, as measured by the transitional dyspnea index (P=0.04) and by the dyspnea domain of the Chronic Respiratory Disease Index Questionnaire (P=0.02), but not in health-related quality of life (P=0.14).

Conclusions Outpatient treatment with oral prednisone offers a small advantage over placebo in treating patients who are discharged from the emergency department with an exacerbation of COPD.

Source Information

From the Departments of Medicine (S.D.A., P.H., R.D.) and Emergency Medicine (I.G.S, J.A., G.D.), and the Ottawa Health Research Institute (K.L.V., E.Y., G.W.), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; the Department of Emergency Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (R.B.); the Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta. (B.H.R.); the Department of Emergency Medicine, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ont. (J.D.); and St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto (D.C.) — all in Canada.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Aaron at the Division of Respiratory Medicine, Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, Rm. 1812F, 501 Smyth Rd., Ottawa, ON K1H 8L6, Canada, or at saaron{at}ottawahospital.on.ca.

Full Text of this Article

Related Letters:

Prednisone for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Busti A. J., Vervan M. D., Brouse S. D., Hurst J. R., Donaldson G. C., Wedzicha J. A., Rolla G., Bucca C., Salloum A., Elbaage T. Y., Soubani A. O., Aaron S., Dales R., Wells G.
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N Engl J Med 2003; 349:1288-1290, Sep 25, 2003. Correspondence

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