Saturday, May 19, 2012

Airway Imaging in Disease; Gimmick or Useful Tool?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22604891


J Appl Physiol. 2012 May 17. [Epub ahead of print]

Airway Imaging in Disease; Gimmick or Useful Tool?

Source

1University of British Columbia.

Abstract

Airway remodeling is an important pathophysiological mechanism in a variety of chronic airway diseases. Historically investigators have had to use invasive techniques such as histological examination of excised tissue to study airway wall structure. The last several years has seen a proliferation of relatively non-invasive techniques to assess the airway branching pattern, wall thickness and, more recently, airway wall tissue components. These methods include computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and optical coherence tomography. These new imaging technologies have become popular because in order to understand the physiology of lung disease it is important we understand the underlying anatomy. However, these new approaches are not standardized or available in all centers so a review of their validity and clinical utility is appropriate. This review documents how investigators are working hard to correct for inconsistencies between techniques so that they become more accepted and utilized in clinical settings. These new imaging techniques are very likely to play a front-line role in the study of lung disease and will, hopefully, allow clinicians and investigators to better understand disease pathogenesis and to design and assess new therapeutic interventions.

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