PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Caroline Majoral AU - Ira Katz AU - John Fleming AU - Joy Conway AU - Lesley Collier AU - Marine Pichelin AU - Livia Tossici-Bolt AU - Georges Caillibotte TI - Comparison of aerosol deposition pattern in healthy vs. asthmatic subjects DP - 2012 Sep 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - 166 VI - 40 IP - Suppl 56 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/166.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/166.full SO - Eur Respir J2012 Sep 01; 40 AB - IntroductionA clinical study designed to validate computational models of aerosol deposition in healthy and asthmatic subjects has been completed.ObjectivesThe objective here is to compare the aerosol deposition patterns between healthy and moderate asthmatic subjects inhaling identical aerosols under identical ventilatory parameters.Methods6 healthy and 6 asthmatic subjects performed two inhalations each, which differed by a single controlled parameter: particle, ventilation, or carrier gas. The same parameters were used for a healthy subject (e.g. H01) and the corresponding asthmatic patient (e.g. A01).3D-SPECT was performed to measure aerosol deposition location, and the 3D Central to Peripheral ratios, C/P, were calculated for right and left lungs.ResultsAlmost all (11/12) the asthmatics had higher central deposition than the corresponding healthy subjects. Data on deposition per airway generation show that the asthmatics have a peak around the 5th generation, which is less marked for the healthy subjects (e.g. Figure 1 for H03 and A03). The mean right and left C/P ratios are 1.56±0.45 and 1.86±0.61 for healthy subjects, vs. 2.89±1.45 and 4.04±2.22 for the asthmatics. These differences between healthy and asthmatic subjects were statistically significant (p<0.002).ConclusionThe obstruction of the upper airways in asthma disease may induce the larger deposition of aerosol in central airways of asthmatics compared to healthy subjects.