title: Radiological approach to asthma and COPD--the role of computed tomography.
abstract: Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are among the most prevalent lung diseases. In both asthma and COPD, airway inflammation leads to airway remodeling. Parenchyma of the lung is also influenced by disease conditions. Airway wall thickening/lumen narrowing and parenchymal destruction occur in COPD. In asthma, airway remodeling contributes to the lung parenchyma. Computed tomography (CT) has been widely used as an imaging tool for lung diseases. With the technical advancement of CT, together with the development of analysis software, it is now possible to analyze the lung parenchymal change and airway remodeling quantitatively using CT. This article reviews the role of CT in assessing the lung structure and functions of patients with asthma and COPD.
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Shiga, Japan. nakano@belle.shiga-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yasutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Nguyen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Tho
authors.forename: Hideto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osawa
authors.forename: Taishi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagao
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D012984:Software; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods