Novel measure of lung function for assessing disease activity in asthma. Issue 1 (10th March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Smith, Nicholas M J; Couper, John; Fullerton, Christopher J; Richmond, Graham; Talbot, Nick P; Hancock, Gus; Pavord, Ian; Ritchie, Grant A D; Robbins, Peter A; Petousi, Nayia
• Is Part Of: BMJ open respiratory research. Volume 7:Issue 1(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-03-10
• Subjects: asthma; Respiratory organs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Respiratory organs -- Diseases -- Treatment -- Periodicals; Respiratory therapy -- Periodicals; 616.2005
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjresp-2019-000531
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2052-4439

Abstract

Abstract : Introduction: In asthma, lung function measures are often discordant with clinical features such as disease activity or control. Methods: We investigated a novel technique that provides a measure (σCL) of unevenness (inhomogeneity) in lung inflation/deflation. In particular, we compared σCL with FEV1 % predicted (FEV1 %pred) as measures of disease activity in the asthmatic lung. Results: σCL correlated modestly with FEV1 %pred. However, σCL is not simply a proxy for FEV1 %pred as the effects of salbutamol on the two parameters were unrelated. Importantly, σCL reflected disease control better than FEV1 . Discussion: We conclude that σCL shows promise as an objective measure of disease activity in asthma.