Size of the Carotid Body in Patients with Cardiovascular and Respiratory Diseases Measured by Computed Tomography Angiography: A Case-Control Study

Objectives. Carotid bodies (CBs) play an important role in regulating sympathetic nervous system activity. Thus, they are likely to be enlarged in patients with certain cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The aim of this case-control study was to verify this hypothesis using computed tomography angiography (CTA). Methods. We retrospectively analysed 141 CTAs including 16 controls, 96 patients with only hypertension (HT), 12 with HT and previous acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 9 with HT and heart failure (HF), and 8 with HT and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We assessed the data using analysis of variance, with p < 0.05 indicating significance. Results. CB average areas in the controls were 2.31 mm2 (right side (RS)) vs. 2.34 mm2 (left side (LS)). CB size was significantly enlarged in patients with HT: 3.07 mm2 (RS) ( p = 0.019 ) vs. 2.91 mm2 (LS) ( p = 0.002 ). If AMI (RS: 3.5 mm2; LS: 3.44 mm2) or HF (RS: 4.01 mm2; LS: 4.55 mm2) was associated with HT, the CB size was even more enlarged. COPD did not affect CB size (RS: 2.40 mm2; LS: 2.29 mm2). Conclusions. Our data showed that certain diseases with increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system were associated with significantly enlarged CBs.

Download Full-text

Phenotypic characterisation of early COPD: a prospective case–control study

ERJ Open Research ◽

10.1183/23120541.00047-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 00047-2020

Author(s):

Borja G. Cosío ◽

Sergi Pascual-Guardia ◽

Alicia Borras-Santos ◽

Germán Peces-Barba ◽

Salud Santos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Family History ◽

Early Life ◽

Respiratory Diseases ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Airflow Limitation ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Phenotypic Characterisation ◽

History Of ◽

Control Study

The phenotypic characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in individuals younger than 50 years of age (early COPD) are not well defined. This prospective, multicentre, case–control study sought to describe these characteristics and compare them with those of smokers (≥10 pack-years) of similar age with normal spirometry (controls).We studied 92 cases (post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) <0.7) and 197 controls. Results were contrasted with participants with similar inclusion criteria recruited into the ECLIPSE and COPDGene cohorts.Cases had moderate airflow limitation (FEV1 71.3±20.8%) but were often symptomatic, used healthcare resources frequently, had air trapping (residual volume 150.6±55.5% ref.), had reduced diffusing capacity (84.2±20.7% ref.) and had frequent evidence of computed tomography (CT) emphysema (61%). Of note, less than half of cases (46%) had been previously diagnosed with COPD. Interestingly, they also often reported a family history of respiratory diseases and had been hospitalised because of respiratory problems before the age of 5 years more frequently than controls (12% versus 3%, p=0.009). By and large, these observations were reproduced when available in the ECLIPSE and COPDGene cohorts.These results show that early COPD is associated with substantial health impact and significant structural and functional abnormalities, albeit it is often not diagnosed (hence, treated). The fact that a sizeable proportion of patients with early COPD report a family history of respiratory diseases and/or early-life events (including hospitalisations before the age of 5 years) renders further support to the possibility of early-life origin of COPD.

Download Full-text