In:
Journal of Applied Physiology, American Physiological Society, Vol. 131, No. 3 ( 2021-09-01), p. 1056-1066
Abstract:
Asthma acute exacerbations (AE) have been investigated using quantitative computed tomography (QCT)-based imaging metrics, but QCT has not yet been used to investigate a comprehensive set of imaging metrics during AE. This study aims to explore imaging features, captured both at segmental and parenchymal scales, during asthma AE compared with those in stable asthma (SA). Two sets of the QCT images at total lung capacity (TLC) and functional residual capacity (FRC) were captured for 14 subjects during asthma AE and in SA phase, respectively. We calculated airway wall thickness (WT), hydraulic diameter ( D h ), and airway circularity ( Cr) of the 36 segmental airways; percentage of functional small airway disease (fSAD%); percentage of emphysema; tissue fraction (β tiss ); and coefficient of variation of β tiss (CV of β tiss ). We performed Spearman correlation tests for changes in QCT metrics and pulmonary function tests, measured in AE and SA. During asthma AE, structural metrics, that is, WT, D h , and Cr, were not changed significantly. In functional metrics, CV of β tiss at FRC indicating the heterogeneity of lung tissue distribution was significantly increased, whereas the mean of β tiss at FRC did not change during AE. An increase of fSAD% during AE was most correlated with a decrease of forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity, especially in the lower lobes. This study demonstrates that the heterogeneous feature of β tiss measured at lower lobes is more noticeable during asthma AE, compared with other traditional imaging metrics. This metric could be utilized to identify unique features during asthma AE. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Using two sets of inspiration and expiration images, the difference of segmental airway structure and parenchymal lung function is assessed by comparing the QCT images during asthma acute exacerbations with those in stable asthma. This study also introduces a useful application of an imaging-based metric, estimating the heterogeneity of tissue distribution. This could be a phenotype for the asthma acute exacerbation.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
8750-7587
,
1522-1601
DOI:
10.1152/japplphysiol.00743.2020
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Physiological Society
Publication Date:
2021
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1404365-8
SSG:
12
SSG:
31
