"Frequent exacerbator" is a phenotype of poor prognosis in Japanese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: The prognosis of Japanese patients with COPD who suffer repeated exacerbations is unclear, although Westerners with such episodes have a poor prognosis.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a 1-year prospective observational trial involving 90 Japanese patients with COPD: 58 nonexacerbators, 12 infrequent exacerbators, and 20 frequent exacerbators classified on the basis of exacerbation frequency (zero, one, and two or more exacerbations/year), respectively, during the previous year were observed prospectively for 1 year. The characteristics of frequent exacerbators, the frequency of exacerbation, and the period until the first event were then compared among the groups.

Development of the Japanese version of the COPD Assessment Test.

Background: We aimed to develop the Japanese version of the COPD Assessment Test (TM) (CAT), which was recently developed in overseas countries, to measure the health status of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to validate its psychometric properties.

Methods: The original CAT was translated to Japanese through linguistic validation. Then, an Internet-based survey was conducted by including 301 Japanese patients with COPD who were over 40 years of age and had a history of smoking, to assess the reliability and validity of the translated CAT.

Medical Thoracoscopy Performed Using a Flexible Bronchoscope Inserted through a Chest Tube under Local Anesthesia.

Background and Objectives. Many cases of pleural effusion can remain undiagnosed following thoracentesis. We evaluated our own technique for performing thoracoscopy under local anesthesia using a 32 Fr chest tube and a flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope without a rigid thoracoscope for the diagnosis, inspection, and management of patients with pleurisy.