Brain abnormalities in COPD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Structural and functional brain abnormalities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
IRAS ID
173630
Contact name
Mohani Bajaj
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
St George's, University of London and St George's Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 0 days
Research summary
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic lung disease which causes shortness of breath and exercise limitation. People with COPD may experience disease flares, called exacerbations. They are also at increased risk of other chronic disease e.g. of the heart, brain and metabolism, known as comorbidities. There is some evidence that COPD patients who experience frequent exacerbations are at increased risk of comorbidities.
We have shown that COPD patients admitted to hospital with exacerbations have more problems with cognition (thinking) than people with stable COPD. The aim of this study is to find out whether these differences in cognition can be explained by greater brain damage in people with COPD hospitalised for exacerbation.
In this study we will recruit 20 people with COPD who have been admitted to hospital with an exacerbation within the past 6 months, but discharged from hospital at least 4 weeks ago. Participants will undergo a brain scan using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and complete a simple questionnaire to test cognition. These results will be combined with existing data (MRI and cognitive function data previously collected and analysed in the same was as is planned for this study) for 5 COPD patients studied following hospital admission for exacerbations and compared with data collected in the same way from 25 people with stable COPD.
REC name
London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0425
Date of REC Opinion
7 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion