Bronchial walls in the radiological diagnosis of asthma

Although bronchial wall thickening is known to occur in asthma, its radiological visibility and significance are matters of dispute. The present study shows that thickening can be detected in the plain chest radiographs of patients with severe asthma, but it cannot be reliably detected in patients with mild asthma. Measurements of bronchi made on lung tomograms showed that the lumen-wall ratio more clearly separated the asthma and normal groups than did observation of bronchial wall thickness alone.