ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an integrated view of the management of patients hospitalized
because of an acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) (1-5). It does not address the
management of AECOPD in the community, nor does it discuss in depth the
individual aspects of each of the different therapeutic options available (Table 1,
Evidence A-D), because both are covered at length in other chapters of this book.
