Physiologic and pathologic abnormalities in severe asthma.
Severe asthma remains poorly understood and frustrating to treat, partly because it is a heterogeneous disease. Recent improvements in the definition of severe asthma have allowed better characterization of the phenotypes of severe asthma and the related physiologic and pathologic abnormalities. Early-onset severe asthma is a more allergy-associated disease than late-onset asthma. Persistent eosinophilia is more commonly seen in patients who have late-onset disease but is associated with a more symptomatic disease in both early- and late-onset disease. Recent studies suggest that response to therapy in severe asthma may depend on the phenotype.
Department of Medicine, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, 1400 Jackson Street, Denver, CO 80206, USA. wenzels@njc.org
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D001249:Asthma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index