Remember that COPD is a progressive disease.
Early diagnosis and treatment help ensure the best possible outcomes.
Your healthcare provider will perform a thorough physical examination, which can identify signs of COPD and its complications.
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Systemic Examination
Your healthcare provider will observe you for signs of respiratory distress.
Struggling to breathe and loud wheezing can indicate advanced lung disease.
Advanced COPD causesright heart failure, which can result in prominence of the veins in your neck.
Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Your practitioner will listen to your heart and lungs with a stethoscope.
Lung sounds such as wheezing can be indications of COPD or a lung infection.
Examination of Your Extremities
Your extremities can show signs of advanced COPD.
Pale or bluish fingers or toes signalcyanosis, which is a sign of oxygen deprivation.
Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
This can give an objective assessment of your lung function.
Lung diffusion testsmeasure how much carbon monoxide your lungs are able to process.
Sometimes, prior to a CT scan, acontrast materialmay be injected into your vein.
This allows your healthcare provider to see the outline of certain lung abnormalities.
Differential Diagnoses
There are several medical illnesses that have features similar to those of COPD.
Asthma
Asthmamay be considered in the differential diagnosis of COPD.
Both conditions cause wheezing, shortness of breath, and exercise intolerance.
As such, it is difficult to know the difference on your own.
And since smoking is a leading risk factor for COPDandCHF, it’s not uncommon to have both conditions.
Bronchiectasis can exist alone or co-occur alongside COPD.
Obliterative Bronchiolitis
Obliterative bronchiolitisis a rare form ofbronchiolitisthat can be life-threatening.
Frequently Asked Questions
Spirometry is used to both diagnose and stage COPD.
The FEV1 is the amount of air you might forceably exhale in one second.
If you have an abnormal result on a spirometry test, it could indicate either COPD or asthma.
Your practitioner may have you use a bronchodilator to improve your airflow before trying the test again.
If the bronchodilator doesn’t help improve your results, it may indicate COPD rather than asthma.
Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease.2024 GOLD report.
2016;10(10):OE08-OE12.
UpToDate.Diagnosis of COPD: PFTs and chest radiograph.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What is COPD?
