Chronic Bronchitis: Where Are We Now?

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous disease with different clinical and pathophysiologic phenotypes. 1,2 COPD is currently the third leading cause of death in the world. 3 Chronic bronchitis (CB) is common, affecting approximately 10 million people in the United States, the majority of which are between 44 and 65 years of age. CB is classically described as chronic cough and sputum for at least 3 months a year for 2 consecutive years 4 but many studies have used different definitions. No matter how it is described, it is clear that CB is associated with multiple clinical consequences, including hastening lung function decline, increasing risk of exacerbations, Chronic Bronchitis: A Review