Comparative analysis of clinical features of asthma-COPD overlap, asthma and COPD

Objective To analyzing and comparing the clinical features of asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap (ACO) with asthma and COPD to promote the early diagnosis and treatment of ACO. Methods A total of 140 patients with either COPD or asthma hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from 2014 to 2018 were recruited, divided into three groups: ACO group (40 cases), asthma group (50 cases), and COPD group (50 cases). The differences of demographic characteristics, laboratory examinations, imaging features, lung functions and hospitalization conditions among the three groups were analyzed to evaluate the feasibility of initially screening ACO patients from those with asthma or COPD by clinical data. Results The mean age and proportion of smokers of ACO group were higher than asthma group (P 0.05). By comprehensive analysis of age, smoking history, blood neutrophils and chest CT features, the sensitivity and specificity of differentiating ACO from asthma were calculated to be 90% and 76% respectively.By comprehensive analysis of gender, smoking history, allergy history, blood eosinophils and serum total IgE, the sensitivity and specificity of differentiating ACO from COPD were calculated to be 70% and 76% respectively. Conclusions ACO has its own unique features, although there are many clinical manifestations similar to asthma and COPD.It is beneficial for identifying ACO from asthma or COPD preliminarily by means of comprehensive analysis of clinical data. Key words: Asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap; Asthma; Pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive; Clinical features