A study recently published in the journalRespiratory Medicinesuggests that long-term azithromycin may reduce the risk for exacerbations, emergency visits, and hospital admission in patients with severe COPD and these benefits could persist for >1 year.
In a retrospective observational study of patients with severe COPD, researchers compared outcomes in patients who were prescribed azithromycin [PA; 250 mg 3 times per week for 6 months] (n=126) with patients nonprescribed azithromycin [NPA; for 1 year] (n=69).
The results showed that the mean number of exacerbations significantly decreased in the year after initiation of azithromycin in the PA group (3.2 vs 2.3 exacerbation per year; P<.001), whereas the mean number of exacerbations significantly increased in the first 2 years (1.7 vs 2.7 exacerbations per year: P<.001) in the NPA group. In the PA group, there was a significant reduction in the number of emergency room visits, hospital admissions, and days in the hospital compared with the NPA group.
“Benefits of long-term azithromycin have been shown in subgroups of patients, smokers and ex-smokers, those with and without bronchiectasis, and those colonised withPseudomonas aeruginosa. However, it is necessary to carefully select patients since long-term use of macrolides can have deleterious effects,” authors commented.
