TY - JOUR T1 - Fibrinogen does not relate to cardiovascular or muscle manifestations in COPD: cross-sectional data from the ERICA study JF - Thorax JO - Thorax SP - 1182 LP - 1185 DO - 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2018-211556 VL - 73 IS - 12 AU - Divya Mohan AU - Julia R Forman AU - Matthew Allinder AU - Carmel M McEniery AU - Charlotte Emma Bolton AU - John R Cockcroft AU - William MacNee AU - Jonathan Fuld AU - Mellone Marchong AU - Nichola Sian Gale AU - Marie Fisk AU - Sridevi Nagarajan AU - Joseph Cheriyan AU - David A Lomas AU - Peter M A Calverley AU - Bruce E Miller AU - Ruth Tal-Singer AU - Ian B Wilkinson AU - Michael I Polkey A2 - , Y1 - 2018/12/01 UR - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/73/12/1182.abstract N2 - Cardiovascular and skeletal muscle manifestations constitute important comorbidities in COPD, with systemic inflammation proposed as a common mechanistic link. Fibrinogen has prognostic role in COPD. We aimed to determine whether aortic stiffness and quadriceps weakness are linked in COPD, and whether they are associated with the systemic inflammatory mediator—fibrinogen. Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV), quadriceps maximal volitional contraction (QMVC) force and fibrinogen were measured in 729 patients with stable, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stages II–IV COPD. The cardiovascular and muscular manifestations exist independently (P=0.22, χ2). Fibrinogen was not associated with aPWV or QMVC (P=0.628 and P=0.621, respectively), making inflammation, as measured by plasma fibrinogen, an unlikely common aetiological factor. ER -