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  • Respiratory

Asthma – COPD Overlap; Does it Exist?

There has been much interest in the respiratory landscape about the existence of patients with symptomatic lung conditions who have features of both asthma and COPD – or mostly commonly known Asthma and COPD Overlap (ACO).1 With the advancement of precision medicine, the question should be raised if ACO is indeed needed for the therapeutic identification of patients.2

It is important for respiratory patients to receive the right diagnosis  and with this to ensure  the best course of therapeutic management for each patient. Currently, there are various challenges in the diagnosis and management of patients with suspected ACO.3,4

Professor David Singh presents on the clinical characteristics of ACO and recommended guidance to try and answer the question – does ACO really exist?

Please also consider watching the on-demand video “Asthma and COPD Overlap case study discussion” presented by Dr Hassan Burhan which highlights some patient examples for discussion.

References

1. Bateman ED, Reddel HK, van Zyl-Smit RN, Agusti A. The asthma-COPD overlap syndrome: towards a revised taxonomy of chronic airways diseases? Lancet Respir Med. 2015 Sep;3(9):719-728. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(15)00254-4. Epub 2015 Aug 5. PMID: 26255108.

2. Alsayed AR, Abu-Samak MS, Alkhatib M. Asthma-COPD Overlap in Clinical Practice (ACO_CP 2023): Toward Precision Medicine. J Pers Med. 2023 Apr 18;13(4):677. doi: 10.3390/jpm13040677. PMID: 37109063; PMCID: PMC10146260.

3. Calverley, P.M.A; Walker, P.P. ACO (Asthma – COPD Overlap) Is Independent from COPD: The Case Against. Diagnostics 2021, 11, 1189. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11071189

4. Tho, Nguyen Van et al. Asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS): A diagnostic challenge. Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) vol. 21,3 (2016): 410-8. doi:10.1111/resp.12653

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  • Professor Dave Singh

    Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Respiratory Medicine

    Read biography