Udo-Michael Goehring

TL;DR: This investigation investigated whether roflumilast would reduce the frequency of exacerbations requiring corticosteroids in patients with COPD and found that targeted specific therapies could improve disease management.

TL;DR: It is suggested that roflumilast reduces exacerbations and hospital admissions in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic bronchitis who are at risk of frequent and severe exacerbations despite inhaled corticosteroid and longacting β2 agonist therapy, even in combination with tiotropium.

TL;DR: Treatment with roflumilast shifts patients from the frequent to the more stable infrequent exacerbator state, and the reduction in severe exacerbations leading to hospitalization/death was similar between subgroups and occurred independently of concomitant long-acting β2-agonists or previous inhaled corticosteroid treatment.

TL;DR: A lower rate of cardiovascular events was observed with roflumilast than with placebo in patients with COPD, indicating the lack of a cardiovascular safety signal when treating patients with CopD.

TL;DR: It is hypothesized that because roflumilast (a phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor) has a different mode of action to bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids, it may provide additional benefits when added to these treatments in frequent exacerbators.