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Asthma and lung structure on computed tomography: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Lung Study
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Asthma and lung structure on computed tomography: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Lung Study

Kathleen M Donohue, Eric A Hoffman, Heather Baumhauer, Junfeng Guo, Firas S Ahmed, Gina S Lovasi, David R Jacobs, Paul Enright and R. Graham Barr
Journal of allergy and clinical immunology, Vol.131(2), pp.361-368.e11
02/2013
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2012.11.036
PMCID: PMC3564253
PMID: 23374265

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Abstract

The potential consequences of asthma in childhood and young adulthood on lung structure in older adults have not been studied in a large, population-based cohort. The authors hypothesized that a history of asthma onset in childhood (age 18 years or before) or young adulthood (age 19-45 years) was associated with altered lung structure on computed tomography in later life. The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Lung Study recruited 3965 participants and assessed asthma history by using standardized questionnaires, guideline-based spirometry, and segmental airway dimensions and percentage of low attenuation area (%LAA) on computed tomographic scans. Asthma with onset in childhood and young adulthood was associated with large decrements in FEV1 among participants with a mean age of 66 years (−365 mL and −343 mL, respectively; P < .001). Asthma with onset in childhood and young adulthood was associated with increased mean airway wall thickness standardized to an internal perimeter of 10 mm (0.1 mm, P < .001 for both), predominantly from narrower segmental airway lumens (−0.39 mm and −0.34 mm, respectively; P < .001). Asthma with onset in childhood and young adulthood also was associated with a greater %LAA (1.69% and 4.30%, respectively; P < .001). Findings were similar among never smokers, except that differential %LAA in childhood-onset asthma were not seen in them. Asthma with onset in childhood or young adulthood was associated with reduced lung function, narrower airways, and among asthmatic patients who smoked, greater %LAA in later life.
epidemiology airway structure asthma Airway remodeling emphysema

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