PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - P Brand
AU  - C Rieger
AU  - T Beinert
AU  - J Heyder
TI  - Aerosol derived airway morphometry in healthy subjects
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.95.08101639
DP  - 1995 Oct 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 1639--1646
VI  - 8
IP  - 10
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/8/10/1639.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/8/10/1639.full
SO  - Eur Respir J1995 Oct 01; 8
AB  - Monodisperse aerosol particles can be used to non-invasively probe intrapulmonary airspace dimensions. In this study, the aerosol-derived airway morphometry technique was used to study airspace dimensions in 79 healthy subjects, in order to assess reference data for the future clinical application of aerosol-derived airway morphometry, and to investigate the effect of lung inflation, anthropometric, and lung function parameters on aerosol-derived airway morphometry. Intrapulmonary airspace dimensions were assessed by measuring the deposition of monodisperse, hydrophobic submicron aerosol particles during breathholding. Additionally, measurements of spirometric and body plethysmographic lung function were performed. Airspace dimensions were in good agreement with morphometric lung data. Airspace dimensions increased with increasing lung inflation. Interindividual variation of airspace dimensions was lowest in the lung periphery, at high levels of lung inflation, and when the volumetric lung depth was normalized to the end-inspiratory lung volume. Analysis of variance showed an increase of airspace dimensions with age. The results of this study indicate that aerosol-derived airway morphometry is dependent on the level of lung inflation and the age of the subject. These results suggest that in contrast to conventional lung function techniques, aerosol-derived airway morphometry might be a powerful tool for the detection of small changes in peripheral airway geometry.