Reducing mortality for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: role of statins and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.

Evaluation of: Mortensen EM, Copeland LA, Pugh MJ et al. Impact of statins and ACE-inhibitors on mortality after COPD exacerbations. Respir. Res. 10, 45 (2009). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease of the airways associated with increased prevalence worldwide and with increasing mortality. It is commonly associated with cardiovascular comorbid conditions and this association may impact reciprocally on disease morbidity and mortality. Statins and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are known for their effects on cardiovascular mortality reduction, and several studies have demonstrated their effects on mortality in COPD patients (particularly for statins). e study by Mortensen et al. was a large, retrospective analysis on the impact of statins and/or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors prehospitalization on 90-day mortality in patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbations. It demonstrated the significant effects on mortality rate reduction of these two classes of compounds, highlighting their effects on mortality in several subsets of COPD patients with high-risk cardiovascular comorbid conditions.