Study objectives: To stratify COPD patients presenting with an acute exacerbation on the basis of sputum color and to relate this to the isolation and viable numbers of bacteria recovered on culture.

The problem with COPD is you have obstruction to air flow, so most patients have a chronic cough, have some shortness of breath, have some wheezing. And periodically they will have what we call an ...

Patients presenting to their primary-care physicians with acute exacerbations associated with sputum production and underlying diagnoses of COPD were considered for the study. All had a history of ...