الفهرس 
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Sputum productionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) poses a challenge to current and future health care systems. As a result of increased tobacco consumption and demographic development, COPD is expected to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by the year 2020.
Acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) are often associated with infectious agents, some of which may be non-usual, including different fungi like Aspergillus spp. However, the importance of different fungi in the clinical management of AECOPD still remains unclear.
In recent years many studies reveal high mortality rate between COPD patients who were proved to have invasive pulmonary aspergillosis due to use of long term steroids as one of drugs used to manage their state in between attacks so biological examination of their sputum became important even mandatory in some hospitals . The purpose fungal speciesof the present study is detection of different cultured from sputum of COPD patients during acute exacerbation This study was conducted upon thirty COPD patients (30 males, with a mean ± SD age 58.3 ± 6.9 years) with chest X-ray showing signs of hyperinflation (COPD emphysema) at different wards in Abbasia Chest Hospital in the period between october 2016 to march 2017.
Patients were subjected to:
Full history taking.
Clinical examination.
Plain chest x-ray
Hematological investigation
Biological fungal culture
from the present study, the following results were obtained: 1. Biological fungal culture: there is no growth in 5 patients (16.7%), growth of candida in 14 patients (46.7), mixed growth of microsporum and candida in 6 patients (20), and mixed growth of aspergillus fumigatus and candida in 5 patients (16.7).
2. Increased incidence of pulmonary fungal infection between patients who used long term steroids as drug management in between attacks.3. Patients whose culture is positive for fungi were more susceptible for acute exacerbation of their COPD state with respiratory failure, and for long time of hospital stay during exacerbation.