Airway smooth muscle and long-Term clinical efficacy following bronchial thermoplasty in severe asthma

Pieta C. Wijsman, Annika W. M. Goorsenberg, Julia N. S. D'Hooghe, Nick H. T. ten Hacken, Joris J t H Roelofs, Thais Mauad, Els J. M. Weersink, Pallav Shah, Jouke T. Annema, Peter I. Bonta

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The mechanism of action of bronchial thermoplasty (BT) treatment for patients with severe asthma is incompletely understood. This study investigated the 2.5-year impact of BT on airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass and clinical parameters by paired data analysis in 22 patients. Our findings demonstrate the persistence of ASM mass reduction of >50% after 2.5 years. Furthermore, sustained improvement in asthma control, quality of life and exacerbation rates was found, which is in line with previous reports. An association was found between the remaining ASM and both the exacerbation rate (r=0.61, p=0.04 for desmin, r=0.85, p<0.01 for alpha smooth muscle actin (SMA)) and post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s predicted percentage (r=-0.69, p=0.03 for desmin, r=-0.58, p=0.08 for alpha SMA). This study provides new insight into the long-Term impact of BT.

Original languageEnglish
Article number220967
Pages (from-to)359-362
Number of pages4
JournalThorax
Volume79
Issue number4
Early online date2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Feb 2024

Keywords

  • Asthma

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