Stijn E Verleden, Jeroen M H Hendriks, Annemiek Snoeckx, Cindy Mai, Yves Mentens, Wim Callebaut, Bruno De Belie, Paul E Van Schil, Veronique Verplancke, Annelies Janssens, Joseph Jacob, Ashkan Pakzad, Thomas M Conlon, Guney Guvenc, Ali Önder Yildirim, Patrick Pauwels, Senada Koljenovic, Johanna M Kwakkel-Van-Erp, Therese Lapperre
RATIONALE: Small airway disease is an important pathophysiological feature of COPD. Recently, pre-COPD has been put forward as potential precursor stage of COPD, defined by abnormal spirometry or significant emphysema on CT in the absence of airflow obstruction. METHODS: We collected whole lungs/lung lobes from patients with emphysematous pre-COPD (n=10), COPD GOLD I (n=6), GOLD II (n=6), GOLD III/IV (n=7) and controls (n=10) which were analyzed using CT and microCT...
December 6, 2023: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine