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Computed tomography (CT) scans often reveal airway mucus plugs in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who do not have mucus-related symptoms. To shed light on the significance of these “silent” mucus plugs, investigators reviewed clinical and imaging data for 4400 participants with COPD.
Among the 1700 patients who had no cough or phlegm, those whose CT scans showed mucus plugs had significantly worse clinical measures (e.g., shorter 6-minute walk distance, lower resting arterial oxygen saturation, lower percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second, more emphysema, and higher odds of severe exacerbations in the past year) than those without mucus plugs. Comparisons were adjusted for potential confounder…