Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 22, 2025
Multi-modal Pulmonary Imaging: Using Complementary Information from CT and Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI to Evaluate Lung Structure-Function
Published on: April 12, 2024
[Lung imaging in severe asthma]
M-P Debray1, M Ghanem2, A Khalil3
1Service de Radiologie, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Bichat, 46, rue Henri Huchard, 75018 Paris; Inserm UMR1152, France.
Introduction:
Asthma is a common disease whose diagnosis does not typically rely on the results of imaging. However, chest CT has gained a key place over the last decade to support the management of patients with difficult to treat and severe asthma.
State Of The Art:
Bronchial wall thickening and mild dilatation or narrowing of bronchial lumen are frequently observed on chest CT in people with asthma. Bronchial wall thickening is correlated to the degree of obstruction and to bronchial wall remodeling and inflammation. Diverse conditions which can mimic asthma should be recognized on CT, including endobronchial tumours, interstitial pneumonias, bronchiectasis and bronchiolitis. Ground-glass opacities and consolidation may be related to transient eosinophilic infiltrates, infection or an associated disease (vasculitis, chronic eosinophilic pneumonia). Hyperdense mucous plugging is highly specific for allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.
Perspectives:
Airway morphometry, air trapping and quantitative analysis of ventilatory defects, with CT or MRI, can help to identify different morphological subgroups of patients with different functional or inflammatory characteristics. These imaging tools could emerge as new biomarkers for the evaluation of treatment response.
Conclusion:
Chest CT is indicated in people with severe asthma to search for additional or alternative diagnoses. Quantitative imaging may contribute to phenotyping this patient group.
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