Photo Credit: Magicmine

Comparable emphysema was observed in patients with COPD and asthma-COPD overlap (ACO), but not in all asthmatic patients, according to findings published in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The study included 48 patients with asthma, 52 with COPD, and 30 with ACO, as well as a control group of 54 patients. All patients had completed pulmonary function tests and HRCT scans before being retroactively enrolled in the study. Quantitative CT analysis software assessed emphysema, airway wall dimensions, luminal area, and wall area percentage, as well as air trapping and the expiration-to-inspiration ratio of mean lung density. While all patients in the study exhibited proximal airway remodeling, patients with COPD and ACO exhibited bronchi thickened outward, but bronchi were thickened inward in asthmatic patients. Patients with ACO were found to have the most severe degree of air trapping among all studied groups. Moreover, researchers said their findings suggest indirect lung densitometry measurements could be more predictive of airflow limitation than direct airway measurements.