[Anemia in COPD: should it be taken into consideration?].

Recent recognition of the importance of nonpulmonary signs and symptoms in the management and prognosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has led to a shift in the focus of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to encompass these aspects. We no longer concentrate on assessing a single functional variable (forced expiratory volume in 1 second) as a predictor of survival in these patients. Most of the research undertaken to date into COPD-related systemic disorders has targeted weight loss, muscular dysfunction, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease. However, the abnormal inflammatory response associated with COPD may provoke other disorders such as anemia. Moreover, comorbid anemia has been shown to be an independent predictor of mortality in several chronic diseases including cancer and heart failure. Anemia is, therefore, an entity that should be taken into consideration in the overall management of respiratory disease because it may have a clear detrimental impact on various aspects of the patient s health, including dyspnea, exercise tolerance, and quality of life. There is a growing body of literature on the relationship between anemia and COPD. Our aim is to briefly review the pathophysiologic aspects of this association before going on to discuss some of the most recent evidence published.