Course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease following first onset of respiratory failure.

The advent of respiratory failure is an important indicator of prognosis in the late natural course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The course of 30 patients with c h i c obstructive pulmonary disease following the first episode of respiratory failure has been documented. The data presented are consonant with a severely restricted life expectancy following the first episode of respiratory failure. An episode of right ventricular failure from cor pulmonale is an additional adverse influence on the prognosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In this series, 66 percent of the patients died within two years after the first episode of respiratory failure, or about seven years from the onset of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.