Special Libraries, October 1922

Volume 13, Issue 8https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1922/1007/thumbnail.jp

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Background: Age-related increases in morbidity and mortality due to asthma may be due to changes in pathophysiology as patients with asthma get older. There is limited knowledge about the effects of age on the predictors of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), a key feature of asthma. The aim of this study was to determine if the pathophysiologic predictors of AHR, including inflammation, ventilation heterogeneity, and airway closure, differed between young and old patients with asthma. Methods: Sixty-one young (18-46 years) and 43 old (50-80 years) patients with asthma had lung function, lung volumes, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, ventilation heterogeneity, and airway responsiveness to methacholine measured. Airway response to methacholine was measured by the dose-response slope, as the percent fall in FEV per micromole of methacholine. Indices of ventilation heterogeneity were calculated for convection-dependent and diffusion-dependent airways. Results: In young patients with asthma, the independent predictors of AHR were convection-dependent ventilation heterogeneity, exhaled nitric oxide, and % predicted FEV /FVC (model r=0.51,