Guidelines versus clinical practice in the treatment of COPD: a reappraisal.

International guidelines for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), have been available since 2001 [1]. So far, the adherence in the general practice to such guidelines is unsatisfactory with the use of the different drugs, namely b2-agonists, inhaled and oral corticosteroids, anticholinergics and theophyllines, being markedly variable in different countries [2].