[COPD Exacerbation: Towards a Blood Eosinophil-guided Corticosteroid Therapy?]

Measurement of blood eosinophils helps identify COPD patients at increased risk of acute exacerbation who would benefit from the initiation of maintenance therapy with inhaled corticosteroids. This strategy has been included into the GOLD recommendations. Would there be an interest in measuring blood eosinophils to manage COPD exacerbations? Recently, strategies using blood eosinophil count have been developed to better target the group of patients with exacerbations who respond to systemic corticosteroid therapy and also to limit its prescription when the risk/benefit ratio is unfavorable.