Extract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an obstructive lung disease often caused by cigarette smoke, and characterised by inflammation and abnormalities of the large and small airways (i.e. those with an internal diameter <2 mm), as well as by alveolar destruction (emphysema). Recent evidence suggests that small airway disease precedes emphysema [1] and, therefore, it may be useful to identify the presence and extent of small airway disease and emphysema in early COPD, or preferably, even before the onset of disease.
Abstract
Parametric response mapping can distinguish small airway disease, emphysema and parenchymal disease on pulmonary CT http://ow.ly/Neuw6
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Jennifer Boes (Department of Radiology and Center for Molecular Imaging, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA) for optimising the registration algorithm used for the PRM analysis.
Footnotes
Support statement: This study was funded by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Stichting Astma Bestrijding Nederland and the US National Institutes of Health (research grant R44HL118837). Funding information for this article has been deposited with FundRef.
Conflict of interest: Disclosures can be found alongside the online version of this article at erj.ersjournals.com
- Received November 3, 2014.
- Accepted April 26, 2015.
- Copyright ©ERS 2015