The Clinical Characteristics, Treatment and Prognosis of Tuberculosis-associated COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) still imposes a substantial health and economic burden worldwide. Pulmonary tuberculosis has been confirmed as an important risk factor for COPD and this specific phenotype is thereby named as "tuberculosis-associated COPD". Although it is a generally accepted concept, several relevant problems need to be addressed, including how to define this phenotype more precisely, what the clinical characteristics and prognosis are as well as which kind of pharmacologic intervention is optimal. In this study, tuberculosis-associated COPD patients (study group) and non-tuberculosis associated COPD patients (control group) are recruited. After collecting baseline information of participants, the investigators arrange for participants to follow up in the outpatient for reassessment with a scheduled interval of 6 months, which lasts for 1 year. Primary outcome of this study is the frequency of moderate/severe acute exacerbation of COPD during the follow-up of 12 months. By conducting a multicenter prospective cohort study in China, the researchers intend to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognostic predictors, explore plausible therapeutic regimens and promote precise diagnosis and treatment for tuberculosis-associated COPD.