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Correspondence
Should we give long-term macrolide therapy for COPD?
  1. Philip A J Crosbie1,
  2. Mark Woodhead2
  1. 1 North West Lung Centre, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester, UK
  2. 2 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK
  1. Correspondence to Professor Mark Woodhead, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, UK; Mark.Woodhead{at}cmft.nhs.uk

https://doi.org/10.1136/thoraxjnl-2013-203766

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    We would like to take this opportunity to respond to the invitation from the editors of Thorax to engage in a debate over the current place of macrolide therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We believe that the optimism imparted by Albert et al 1 may hide harmful effects that outweigh the currently perceived benefits. In this placebo-controlled, parallel group (but not double-blind) randomised trial, one-quarter of screened patients were excluded from study entry. The main reason for exclusion was the presence of ‘cardiac issues’ related to the known potential of macrolides …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors All authors contributed equally to the writing of the manuscript.

    • Competing interests None to declare. Competing interests for MW: Pfizer Pharmaceuticals: 2010—ended May 2012. Paid member, Data Monitoring Committee: A Phase 4, Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Efficacy in Prevention of Vaccine-Serotype Pneumococcal Community-Acquired Pneumonia and Invasive Pneumococcal Disease. Bayer Pharmaceuticals: Accommodation and return travel to attend the European Respiratory Society annual Congress in Vienna 2.9.2012–5.9.2012.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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