Tags

Type your tag names separated by a space and hit enter

The mechanics of airway narrowing in asthma.
Am Rev Respir Dis. 1989 Jan; 139(1):242-6.AR

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the potential importance of airway wall thickening in the pathogenesis of the excess airways narrowing of asthma. The airways in postmortem specimens of lung obtained from 18 patients who suffered from asthma were compared to similar airways from 23 patients without asthma. Each airway was projected onto a digitizing board of a microcomputer to trace the internal and external perimeter of the airway and to calculate the submucosal and mucosal thicknesses. The relaxed length of the airway smooth muscle and the shortening required to occlude the airway lumen were calculated. These data show that the wall area was greater (p less than 0.001) in the membranous and cartilaginous airways of asthmatic patients and the airway smooth muscle shortening required to occlude the lumen was less in asthmatic than nonasthmatic airways (p less than 0.001). The increased wall area was due to increased areas of epithelium, muscle, and submucosa. We conclude that the walls of the airways of patients with asthma are thickened by chronic inflammation and that this thickening could be as important as smooth muscle shortening in determining the airway responsiveness of these patients.

Authors+Show Affiliations

James AL
Pulmonary Research Laboratory, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada.
Paré PD
No affiliation info available
Hogg JC
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdolescentAdultAgedAsthmaBronchiChildConstriction, PathologicFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMuscle, Smooth

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

2912345

Citation

James, A L., et al. "The Mechanics of Airway Narrowing in Asthma." The American Review of Respiratory Disease, vol. 139, no. 1, 1989, pp. 242-6.
James AL, Paré PD, Hogg JC. The mechanics of airway narrowing in asthma. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1989;139(1):242-6.
James, A. L., Paré, P. D., & Hogg, J. C. (1989). The mechanics of airway narrowing in asthma. The American Review of Respiratory Disease, 139(1), 242-6.
James AL, Paré PD, Hogg JC. The Mechanics of Airway Narrowing in Asthma. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1989;139(1):242-6. PubMed PMID: 2912345.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - The mechanics of airway narrowing in asthma. AU - James,A L, AU - Paré,P D, AU - Hogg,J C, PY - 1989/1/1/pubmed PY - 1989/1/1/medline PY - 1989/1/1/entrez SP - 242 EP - 6 JF - The American review of respiratory disease JO - Am Rev Respir Dis VL - 139 IS - 1 N2 - This study was designed to determine the potential importance of airway wall thickening in the pathogenesis of the excess airways narrowing of asthma. The airways in postmortem specimens of lung obtained from 18 patients who suffered from asthma were compared to similar airways from 23 patients without asthma. Each airway was projected onto a digitizing board of a microcomputer to trace the internal and external perimeter of the airway and to calculate the submucosal and mucosal thicknesses. The relaxed length of the airway smooth muscle and the shortening required to occlude the airway lumen were calculated. These data show that the wall area was greater (p less than 0.001) in the membranous and cartilaginous airways of asthmatic patients and the airway smooth muscle shortening required to occlude the lumen was less in asthmatic than nonasthmatic airways (p less than 0.001). The increased wall area was due to increased areas of epithelium, muscle, and submucosa. We conclude that the walls of the airways of patients with asthma are thickened by chronic inflammation and that this thickening could be as important as smooth muscle shortening in determining the airway responsiveness of these patients. SN - 0003-0805 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/2912345/The_mechanics_of_airway_narrowing_in_asthma_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -