Abstract
Rationale: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is usually diagnosed quite late, but vascular modifications have early onset in smokers and COPD patients. Here we aim to provide size-based morphometric quantification of pulmonary arterial changes in smokers, mild-moderate COPD compared to healthy non-smokers.
Methods: Movat’s Pentachrome staining was carried out for lung resections from normal lung function smokers (NLFS, n=6), small airway disease, (SAD, n=9), COPD current (COPD-CS, n=9), and ex-smokers (COPD-ES, n=10) and healthy non-smoker control (NC, n=12). Arteries measuring 100-1000 micron were blindly analyzed for total number of arteries per parenchymal tissue density and arterial wall thickness using advanced imaging software Image ProPlus V7.0.
Results: We found a significant increment in total parenchymal tissue density (p value<0.01) and decline in total arterial numbers across all arterial size ranges in pathological groups compared to NC (p<0.001). In small to medium arteries (100-400microns) the wall thickness in pathological groups was significantly thicker than NC(p<0.01). This increase in arterial thickness across (100-400microns) in COPD-CS group specifically affected FEV1/FVC (%), (Spearman r’= -0.87, -0.74, -0.77, & p=0.004,0.028,0.030 respectively). Interestingly, a reversible trend was noticed in arterial thickness in COPD-ES, significantly lesser to COPD-CS in ranges between100-300microns (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Smoking contributed to both reduced numbers and increased thickness across all arterial sizes most evidently in COPD-CS, that reversed with smoking cessation.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2021; 58: Suppl. 65, OA1216.
This abstract was presented at the 2021 ERS International Congress, in session “Prediction of exacerbations in patients with COPD”.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2021