How does COPD increase the risk of heart failure?

Why is COPD associated with heart failure? (Dr Jakub Lagan)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the name for a group of conditions that cause severe breathing difficulties. A third of people with COPD also have heart failure. You might expect this to be because the two diseases share risk factors. But even after taking those into account, there is still a strong and independent link between the severity of restricted airflow caused by COPD and the incidence of heart failure. So what is the mechanism behind this link? Dr Christopher Miller is supervising a BHF Clinical Research Training Fellowship that aims to find out what links the two diseases together. The project uses an imaging technique called multiparametric MRI, which is a sequence of different types of MRI scan that can provide a clearer picture of what’s going on inside the body. The group has already developed a novel combined heart and lung MRI method which allows them to simultaneously study the structure and function of both the heart and lungs. They hope to answer questions such as whether people with stable COPD have inflamed hearts, whether there is a link between smoking (which often underlies COPD), the build-up of scar tissue (fibrosis) in the heart, and how these conditions impact the heart’s mechanical function. The research will provide much needed answers for an extremely common clinical problem and will pave the way for new treatments in this high-risk population.