The number of years you can live with emphysema depends on the underlying condition of the patient’s specific disease COPD. If COPD is repeatedly aggravated acutely, i.e., hospitalized several times a year, the 5-year mortality rate can be as high as 50%, which means that half of the people can die within 5 years. The survival rate for patients with 5-year recurrent exacerbations was only about 51%. Depending on the number of hospitalizations per year, up to half of the people with recurrent COPD exacerbations may die from emphysema within 5 years.