Observational studyArchivos de bronconeumologia2021
Blood Eosinophil Counts and Their Variability and Risk of Exacerbations in COPD: A Population-Based Study.
Observational study in Archivos de bronconeumologia, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Blood eosinophils as a biomarker of future COPD exacerbation risk: pooled data from 11 clinical trials.Respiratory research · 2020Pooled it
- Persistently low blood eosinophils identify a high-risk phenotype in COPD.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2026Article
- Clinical Disease Burden in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Type 2 Inflammation in Japan: A Retrospective Database Analysis (EUROS Study).International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2026Article
- Early Identification of Exacerbations in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Reducing Hospital Readmissions in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients: Current Treatments and Preventive Strategies.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Characteristics and actions in high-risk COPD in unstable patients: The EPOCONSUL audit.PloS one · 2025Article
- Stability, variability, and treatment implications of the blood eosinophil count in Korean patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.The Korean journal of internal medicine · 2025Article
- Relationship between Respiratory Microbiome and Systemic Inflammatory Markers in COPD: A Pilot Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Endotypes of Paediatric Cough-Do They Exist and Finding New Techniques to Improve Clinical Outcomes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Phenotypes, Etiotypes, and Endotypes of Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2023Review
- Bronchiectasis-COPD Overlap Syndrome: Role of Peripheral Eosinophil Count and Inhaled Corticosteroid Treatment.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Update on metabolomic findings in COPD patients.ERJ open research · 2023Review
- Blood eosinophils in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A potential biomarker.Journal of translational internal medicine · 2023Article
- Variability of Blood Eosinophil Count at Stable-State in Predicting Exacerbation Risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2023Article
- Article
- Asthma, bronchiectasis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the Bermuda Triangle of the airways.Chinese medical journal · 2022Article
- Determinants of blood eosinophil levels in the general population and patients with COPD: a population-based, epidemiological study.Respiratory research · 2022Article
- Pulmonologists' Opinion on the Use of Inhaled Corticosteroids in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients in Spain: A Cross-Sectional Survey.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2022Article
- Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Evidence of Eosinophilic Inflammation Experience Exacerbations Despite Receiving Maximal Inhaled Maintenance Therapy.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2022Observational
- Circulating eosinophil levels and lung function decline in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a retrospective longitudinal study.Jornal brasileiro de pneumologia : publicacao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisilogia · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is controversy regarding the role of blood eosinophil levels as a biomarker of exacerbation risk in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Our aim was to quantify blood eosinophil levels and determine the risk of exacerbations associated with these levels and their variability.
methodsObservational, retrospective, population-based study with longitudinal follow-up in patients with COPD identified in a primary care electronic medical record database in Catalonia, Spain, covering 80% of the general population. Patients were classified into 4 groups using the following cut-offs: (a) <150cells/μl; (b) ≥150 and <300cells/μl; (c) ≥300 and <500cells/μl; (d) ≥500cells/μl.
resultsA total of 57,209 patients were identified with a mean age of 70.2 years, a mean FEV1(% predicted) of 64.1% and 51.6% had at least one exacerbation the previous year. The number of exacerbations in the previous year was higher in patients with the lowest and the highest eosinophil levels compared with the intermediate groups. During follow-up the number of exacerbations was slightly higher in the group with the lowest blood eosinophil levels and in those with higher variability in eosinophil counts, but ROC curves did not identify a reliable threshold of blood eosinophilia to discriminate an increased risk of exacerbations.
conclusionsOur results do not support the use of blood eosinophil count as a reliable biomarker of the risk of exacerbation in COPD in a predominantly non-exacerbating population. Of note was that the small group of patients with the highest variability in blood eosinophils more frequently presented exacerbations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.