Providence Heart and Lung Institute and The UBC James Hogg Research Center, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Respirology. 2011 Jan;16(1):34-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1843.2010.01888.x.
Airway diseases are a major concern around the world. However, the pace of new drug and biomarker discovery has lagged behind those of other common disorders such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. One major barrier in airway research has been the inability to accurately visualize large or small airway remodelling or dysplastic/neoplastic (either pre or early cancerous) changes using non- or minimally invasive instruments. The advent of optical coherence tomography (OCT) has the potential to revolutionize airway research and management by allowing investigators and clinicians to visualize the airway with resolution approaching histology and without exposing patients to harmful effects of ionizing radiation. Thus, with the aid of OCT, we may be able to accurately determine and quantify the extent of airway remodelling in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, detect early pre-cancerous lesions in smokers for chemoprevention, study the upper airway anatomy of patients with obstructive sleep apnea in real time while they are asleep and facilitate optimal selection of stents for those with tracheal obstruction. In this paper, we review the current state of knowledge of OCT and its possible application in airway diseases.
气道疾病是全球关注的主要问题。然而，新药和生物标志物的发现速度落后于其他常见疾病，如心血管疾病和糖尿病。气道研究中的一个主要障碍是，无法使用非侵入性或微创仪器准确地可视化大或小气道重塑或发育不良/肿瘤（无论是前癌还是早期癌）变化。光学相干断层扫描 (OCT) 的出现有可能通过允许研究人员和临床医生以接近组织学的分辨率可视化气道，而不会使患者暴露在电离辐射的有害影响下，从而彻底改变气道研究和管理。因此，借助 OCT，我们可能能够准确确定和量化哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺疾病中的气道重塑程度，在吸烟者中检测早期癌前病变以进行化学预防，实时研究阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停患者的上呼吸道解剖结构，以及为那些患有气管阻塞的患者选择最佳支架。在本文中，我们回顾了 OCT 的现有知识状态及其在气道疾病中的可能应用。
