Skeletal muscle dysfunction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and coronary artery disease

Abstract

Backgroung: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and coronary arterydisease (CAD) share common risk factors for skeletal muscle dysfunction such as long-term physical inactivity, hypoxia, active smoking and others.So it may be suggested that skeletal muscle dysfunction can develop also in patients with CAD. Aim: The aim of the study was to compare morphological and functional status of skeletal muscle in COPD patients and in patients with CAD. Material and methods: We examined 35 male patients with COPD, mean age 58.0±7.8 years and 32male patients with CAD suffering from stable angina, mean age 56.9±8.2 years. Morphological status of skeletal muscle was evaluated usingbioelectrical impedance analysis, by calculating skeletal muscle percentage, fat-free mass (FFM) and fat-free mass index (FFMI). Functional status was estimated by measuring hand grip strength. Results: The skeletal muscle percentage and FFMI were significantly lower in COPD patients than CAD (24.5±3.8% and 18.5±1.9 kg in COPD group vs 31.4±4.2% and 20.3±1.7kg/m 2 in CAD group, p Conclusion: Our study shows thatmorphological and functional disorders of skeletal muscle are more pronounced in patients with COPD than CAD. It confirms that skeletal muscle dysfunction is distinctive feature of COPD patients.