Department of Infection, Institute for Lung Health, Immunity & Inflammation, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2012 Jan;18(1):42-7. doi: 10.1097/MCP.0b013e32834db255.
Asthma is a global burden, affecting 5% of the general adult population, of whom approximately 5-10% suffer from severe asthma. Severe asthma is a complex heterogeneous disease entity, with high morbidity and mortality. Increasingly novel techniques in computed tomography (CT) are being used to understand the pathophysiology of severe asthma. The utility and clinical implications of these CT techniques are the focus of this review.
Novel qualitative and quantitative CT imaging techniques have enabled us to study the large airway architecture in detail, assess the small airway structure, and perform functional analysis of regional ventilation.
Despite advances in CT imaging techniques, there is an urgent need for both proof-of-concept studies and large cross-sectional and longitudinal clinical trials in severe asthma to validate and clinically correlate imaging derived measures. This will extend our current understanding of the pathophysiology of severe asthma, and unravel the structure-function relationship, with the potential to discover novel severe asthma phenotypes and predict mortality, morbidity, and response to existing and novel pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies.
哮喘是一种全球性疾病负担，影响 5%的普通成年人群，其中约 5-10%患有严重哮喘。严重哮喘是一种复杂的异质性疾病实体，具有高发病率和死亡率。越来越多的新型计算机断层扫描（CT）技术被用于了解严重哮喘的病理生理学。本综述重点介绍了这些 CT 技术的实用性和临床意义。
新型定性和定量 CT 成像技术使我们能够详细研究大气道结构，评估小气道结构，并对区域性通气进行功能分析。
尽管 CT 成像技术取得了进展，但严重哮喘仍迫切需要进行概念验证研究以及大型横断面和纵向临床试验，以验证和临床关联成像衍生的指标。这将扩展我们对严重哮喘病理生理学的现有认识，并揭示结构-功能关系，有可能发现新的严重哮喘表型，并预测死亡率、发病率以及对现有和新型药物和非药物治疗的反应。
