PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - James K. Stoller
AU  - Leonard Fromer
AU  - Mark Brantly
AU  - James Stocks
AU  - Charlie Strange
TI  - Primary care diagnosis of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: Issues and opportunities
DP  - 2007 Dec 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - 869--874
VI  - 74
IP  - 12
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/74/12/869.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/74/12/869.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med2007 Dec 01; 74
AB  - Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency—an autosomal co-dominant condition that predisposes to emphysema and also to liver disease—affects 100,000 Americans, yet in many cases the condition is either not diagnosed or the time between first symptoms and diagnosis is long. Because primary care physicians care for large numbers of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, enhanced suspicion of and testing for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency in the primary care setting would help identify people affected with this condition. The authors discuss impediments to diagnosis and drivers to making the diagnosis of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and they suggest several measures to enhance clinicians’ recognition of the condition.