ABSTRACT

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is frequently associated with comorbidities occurring either independently or as consequences of COPD.

Areas covered: This review examines the interactions between the pathophysiology of COPD and the most frequent comorbidities, and highlights the need for multidimensional clinical strategies to manage COPD patients with comorbidities.

Expert commentary: Most COPD patients need to be approached in a complex and multifactorial scenario. The diagnosis of COPD is necessarily based on the presence of chronic respiratory symptoms and poorly reversible airflow obstruction, but exacerbations and comorbidities need to be considered in the evaluation of disease severity and prognosis in individual patients. More importantly, defining the precise relationship between COPD and comorbidities for each patient is the basis for a correct therapeutic approach.