In this edition you can find details of our upcoming meetings at ERS, a team update, recent REG publications as well as an ISAR report and REG Working Group reports from the Summit held in Amsterdam earlier this year.
We hope you enjoy the newsletter and welcome your feedback.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of chronic morbidity and the third leading cause of death worldwide. Alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency significantly increases the risk of developing COPD. AAT deficiency (AATD) is a genetic disorder characterized by low serum levels of AAT, which at normal levels protects the lung alveoli from damage. Severe AATD can lead to pulmonary emphysema. Global guidance from the World Health Organization, European Respiratory Society and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease recommends testing AAT levels in blood serum of all COPD patients.
In the UK, previous estimates of the prevalence of AATD are outdated and suggest that it is underdiagnosed. In May 2018, a REG study was published in the European Respiratory Journal that determined recent trends in testing and diagnosing AATD among COPD patients in the UK from 1990 to 2014. The Optimum Patient Care Research Database was used to identify patients with a diagnostic code for COPD from about 550 UK general practices. Analysis focused on those diagnosed with COPD before the age of 60 years.
The study identified over 100,000 patients with COPD, of whom over a quarter were diagnosed before 60 years of age. Between 1994 and 2013 the incidence of AATD diagnosis increased among all age groups and both genders, mostly due to an increase in new testing for AATD from around 0% in 1994 to around 1.3% in 2013. However, despite the increase in testing, still only 2.2% of COPD diagnosed before the age of 60 were ever tested for AATD in the period 1990-2014. Of those tested, 24% were diagnosed with AATD. These findings indicate that AATD remains markedly underdiagnosed in COPD patients in the UK and that more testing is needed.
http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2018/05/10/13993003.00360-2018
During a very successful summit in Amsterdam, the following people were awarded Abstract Prizes for their submissions and presentations:
Eric van Ganse – REGABS18001: THERAPEUTIC RATIOS PREDICT ASTHMA CONTROL IN THE ASTROLAB
COHORT
Lakmini Bulathsinhala – REGABS18010: DEMOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PATIENTS WITH SEVERE ASTHMA WORLDWIDE
Boudewijn Dierick – REGABS18011: WORK ABSENCE IN PATIENTS WITH ASTHMA AND/OR COPD
Ronald Dandurand – REGABS18017: CHARACTERIZATION OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE COPD BY BLOOD
EOSINOPHILS
Rupert Jones – REGABS1021: DATABASE STUDIES IN UGANDA-AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GLOBAL RESEARCH
WHERE CHRONIC LUNG DISEASE MATTERS
Ronald Dandurand – REGABS18026: OSCILLOMETRY UPPER LIMIT OF NORMAL AT WORLD COPD DAY 2017
Congratulations to you all.