Marc Miravitlles
Senior Researcher
marcm(ELIMINAR)@clinic.ub.es
Doctor of Medicine from the University of Barcelona. He is a specialist in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficit (AATD) - a congenital disease with a high associated risk of developing pulmonary emphysema in young adults. He works in patient-based clinical research, with epidemiologic, pharmaco-economic, quality-of-life analysis, and therapeutic components.
He takes part in multicenter studies at national and international level, aimed at determining the impact of COPD on patients and their quality of life. He carries out prospective studies to evaluate the direct health care costs of COPD and to identify the causes of inefficiencies in the approach to this disease. Some of his studies explore the relationship between bacterial colonization, frequency of exacerbations, and the course of COPD. He also collaborates in clinical trials and in the development of computer applications in order to develop more reliable multicenter studies and save resources.
In the area of a AATD, he takes part in the development of studies aimed at optimizing replacement treatment by means of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis of intravenous AAT. At the same time, he collaborates on projects that study the real situation of COPD at international level: EPOCA, NIS-EPOC and INDEX.
The results describe how exacerbations and admission to hospital have a significant effect on the state of patients' health in the long term. Exacerbations have also been shown to affect daily life of patients with COPD. Over time, it will be possible to better identify the impact of COPD on patients' quality of life unknown social aspects such as health care costs or inefficiencies in resource management.
Publications
Laboratory testing of individuals with severe AAT deficiency in three European centres.
Miravitlles M, Herr C, Ferrarotti I, Jardi R, Rodriguez-Frias F, Luisetti M, Bals R
Eur Respir J 2010; 35: 960-968.
Prevalence of COPD in Spain: Impact of undiagnosed COPD on quality of life and daily life activities.
Miravitlles M, Soriano JB, García-Río F, Muñoz L, Duran-Taulería E, Sánchez G, Sobradillo V, Ancochea J
Thorax 2009; 64: 863-868.
COPD severity score as a predictor of failure in exacerbations of COPD. The ESFERA study.
Miravitlles M, Izquierdo I, Herrejon A, Torres JV, Baró E, Borja J
Respir Med 2011; 105: 740-747.
He is interested in the impact of COPD on the quality of life of patients and on social aspects such as health care costs or inefficiencies in resource management