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Irreversible airflow obstruction: Evolution in asthma
Author(s) -
Finucane Kevin E.,
Creville Hugh W.,
Brown Peter J.E.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1985.tb113530.x
Subject(s) - asthma , medicine , elastic recoil , cardiology , lung
To determine whether asthma can cause irreversible airflow obstruction (IAO) 89 subjects with uncomplicated asthma received intensive treatment for four weeks. FEV 1 was measured at 0, two and four weeks; pulmonary elasticity and flow resistance was measured in 46 of the subjects at four weeks. Severity of asthma and cigarette consumption were ascertained by a questionnaire. The mean difference between the predicted and highest FEV 1 during treatment was 0.29 L ( P < 0.001). The highest FEV 1 % predicted correlated ( P < 0.001) with the duration and severity of asthma in the entire group, in the 51 non‐smokers, and in the 47 subjects with the adult onset of asthma. Pulmonary resistance, but not elastic recoil, correlated with the duration and severity of asthma ( P < 0.01). The results show that chronic asthma can cause narrowed airways and IAO, and suggest that this may be prevented by improved control of asthma.