The rates of undiagnosed COPD are reported to be between 20 to 40% 1, 2, 3 with all GOLD stages of disease identified. Of those with no known diagnosis, up to 50% had symptoms consistent with COPD1. Currently, population-based screening is not recommended for COPD by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)4. However, given the overlapping risk factors for COPD and lung cancer, there are existing opportunities to target identification of COPD within a high-risk group and build further understanding of the impact on outcomes of earlier diagnosis, phenotyping of disease and implementation of treatment. Screening for early lung cancer using low dose CT imaging also affords the opportunity to explore presence of comorbidities on images, such as presence and extent of emphysema and other lung parenchymal and airway abnormalities and coronary artery calcification. There is also an opportunity to explore the role of imaging biomarkers for COPD such as LAA and airway inflammation, in determining risk of disease progression through longitudinal observation.
