By Peggy Peck

Special to DG News

PHILADELPHIA, PA — April 15, 2002 — Prophylactic antibiotics do not appear to reduce hospitalizations or mortality associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Results from a retrospective study were presented here Sunday at the 2002 Annual Session of the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine.

Louis W. Lim, MD, and John L. Boice, MD, of the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, analyzed data from a patient database at the Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Patients with a diagnosis of COPD, emphysema or chronic bronchitis who had a pulmonary function test performed on or after January 2000, with an forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1) <70 percent of predicted and an FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) of <50 percent were included in the study. Patients with cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis or congestive heart failure were excluded.

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