Can Triple Inhaled Therapy Lower All-Cause Mortality for High-Risk COPD Patients?

In a large chronic obstructive pulmonary disease trial, inhaled corticosteroids plus dual-bronchodilator therapy conferred a small mortality benefit.

Whether inhaled medications can lower mortality among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been debated for years. In a 2007 trial (TORCH), fluticasone/salmeterol narrowly missed showing a statistical mortality benefit, with a P value of 0.052 (NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 15 2007 and N Engl J Med 2007; 356:775). When the IMPACT trial was published in 2018, its noted reduction in all-cause mortality (a secondary endpoint) was disputed, due to loss of outcome data for 5.5% of patients (NEJM JW Gen Med Jun 15 2018 and N Engl J Med 2018; 378:1671). Now, the IMPACT authors have published a post hoc analysis that includes outcome data for 99.6% of the study population.

More than 10,000 patients with high risk for COPD exacerbatio…

Reviewing Author

David J. Amrol, MD

Disclosures

Speaker’s BureauAstraZeneca; Incyte

David J. Amrol, MD

Disclosures

Speaker’s BureauAstraZeneca; Incyte

Can Triple Inhaled Therapy Lower All-Cause Mortality for High-Risk COPD Patients?

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Reviewing Author