Treatment and prognosis of chronic bronchitis phenotype in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

At present, phenotypic problem is one of the focus of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) research.COPD is a complex, multi-component, heterogeneous disease, whose clinical, functional and radiological presentation, therapeutic response vary greatly from patient to patient despite having a similar degree of airflow limitation.Phenotypic recognition of not only helps to recognize this heterogeneity, but also has potential diagnostic and therapeutic significance.The clinical phenotypes of COPD include chronic bronchitis phenotype, emphysema phenotype and acute exacerbation phenotype.Herein, we will describe current understanding of chronic bronchitis in COPD, with an emphasis on recent literature. Key words: Chronic bronchitic; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Treatment and prognosis