We thank A.I. Papaioannou and K. Bartziokas for their interest in our study of the relationship between exacerbation history and blood eosinophil count prior to a diagnosis of COPD and the risk of subsequent exacerbations [1]. As they point out, it is well known that in patients with an established diagnosis and on maintenance treatment, the prior exacerbation history is the best predictor of future exacerbation risk, but our study was the first to show that in newly diagnosed patients, a single exacerbation prior to diagnosis of COPD is associated with a significant risk of exacerbations over the next 12 months and more frequent or severe exacerbations prior to diagnosis are associated with a higher risk.

我们感谢 A.I. Papaioannou 和 K. Bartziokas 对我们研究 COPD 诊断前急性加重史与血嗜酸性粒细胞计数之间的关系以及后续恶化风险的兴趣 [1]。正如他们指出的那样，众所周知，在已确诊并接受维持治疗的患者中，既往恶化史是未来恶化风险的最佳预测指标，但我们的研究首次表明，在新诊断的患者中，诊断为 COPD 之前的单次恶化与未来 12 个月恶化的显着风险相关，而诊断前更频繁或更严重的恶化是与更高的风险相关。