Cardiovascular Assessment and Treatment During COPD Exacerbation to Improve Diagnosis and Outcomes

This is a single-center, prospective, randomized study involving patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbation. Eligible patients will be identified either by the internal medicine department doctors or by reviewing the admission diagnoses of hospitalized patients in the hospital's database. After obtaining informed consent, the patients will be randomized into two groups. Both groups will complete a background questionnaire and will be assessed by a pulmonologist during the hospitalization, who will focus on their lung disease, optimize basic treatment, and recommend follow-up as needed. The intervention group will undergo an additional evaluation by a cardiologist during the hospitalization, who will check for cardiovascular diseases (such as hyperlipidemia, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, or heart failure) and adjust or start treatment according to new or existing diagnoses. Both groups will receive follow-up phone calls about 1, 3, 6, and 12 months later to evaluate any changes in treatment following the intervention, new diagnoses or events of cardiovascular diseases, COPD exacerbations, and mortality.