Professor of Medicine
Pulmonary Section (111N)
VA Medical Center
Minneapolis, MN 55417
Tel: (612) 467-4412
Fax: (612) 727-5634
Email: niewo001@umn.edu
Summary of Academic Activities
My principal academic effort in recent years has involved the initiation, design, and execution of clinical trials that evaluate preventative and treatment measures for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an increasingly important public health problem. I have served as the principal investigator of a recently completed randomized clinical trial that was performed by contract with a pharmaceutical company through the Minnesota Veterans Research Institute. This was performed at 26 VA medical centers and it exceeded its targeted goal of 1800 randomized patients. The hypothesis of this trial was that the addition of a long-acting inhaled anticholinergic bronchodilator to otherwise standard therapy would, over a six-month period, significantly reduce the rate of exacerbations and respiratory hospitalizations among veteran patients with severe COPD. Secondary outcomes included all associated aspects of health care utilization. This trial has been completed and was recently published.
I am also a Principal Investigator for the NHLBI-sponsored COPD Clinical Research Network. This group is designing clinical studies that will improve the management of COPD. Trials are currently under way. I am also a Co-Principal Proponent of a recently funded trial from the VA Cooperative Studies program that will evaluate case management as an intervention for reducing hospitalization rates in 960 patients with severe COPD. Enrollment began in the autumn of 2006.
Selected Recent Publications
Active Grant SupportNiewoehner DE, Lokhnygina Y, Rice K, Kuschner WG, Sharafkhaneh A, Sarosi GA, Krumpe P, Pieper K, Kesten S. Risk indices for exacerbations and hospitalizations due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Chest 2007; 131:20-28.
Kunisaki KM, Rice KL, Niewoehner DE. Management of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the elderly: an appraisal of published evidence. Drugs Aging 2007; 24:303-24.
Niewoehner DE. Procalcitonin level-guided treatment reduced antibiotic use in exacerbations of COPD. ACP J Club 2007; 146(3):57.
Kesten S, Plautz M, Piquette CA, Habib MP, Niewoehner DE. Premature discontinuation of patients: a potential bias in COPD clinical trials. Eur Respir J 2007; 30:898-906.
Suissa S, McGhan R, Niewoehner D, Make B. Inhaled corticosteroids in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Proc Am Thorac Soc 2007; 4:535-42.
Wilt TJ, Niewoehner D, MacDonald R, Kane RL. Management of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review for a clinical practice guideline. Ann Intern Med 2007; 147:639-53.
Rice KL, Kunisaki KM, Niewoehner D. Role of tiotropium in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis 2007;2(2):95-105.
Kunisaki M, Rice KL, Janoff EN, Rector TS, Niewoehner DE. Exhaled nitric oxide, systemic inflammation, and the spirometric response to inhaled fluticasone propionate in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective study. Ther Adv Respir Dis 2008; 2:55-64.