The incidence of pneumonia increased with the use of inhaled fluticasone furoate and vilanterol in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reported Dr. Courtney Crim of GSK in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and her colleagues.
Investigators randomized 3,255 COPD patients to receive either vilanterol once a day or vilanterol combined with fluticasone furoate. Chest radiographs showed pneumonia incidence in 3% of patients with vilanterol alone, compared with 7% in those who received both vilanterol and 200 mcg fluticasone furoate. A total of 205 pneumonia events occurred in 181 patients, the authors reported.
“Modifiable pneumonia risk factors should be considered when attempting to optimize COPD management,” Dr. Crim and her coauthors wrote.
Read the full article at the Annals of the American Thoracic Society [2015;12:27-34 [doi:10.1513/AnnalsATS.201409-413OC]).