<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction</jats:title><jats:p>In asthma, lung function measures are often discordant with clinical features such as disease activity or control.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>We investigated a novel technique that provides a measure (σCL) of unevenness (inhomogeneity) in lung inflation/deflation. In particular, we compared σCL with FEV<jats:sub>1</jats:sub>% predicted (FEV<jats:sub>1</jats:sub>%pred) as measures of disease activity in the asthmatic lung.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>σCL correlated modestly with FEV<jats:sub>1</jats:sub>%pred. However, σCL is not simply a proxy for FEV<jats:sub>1</jats:sub>%pred as the effects of salbutamol on the two parameters were unrelated. Importantly, σCL reflected disease control better than FEV<jats:sub>1</jats:sub>.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion</jats:title><jats:p>We conclude that σCL shows promise as an objective measure of disease activity in asthma.</jats:p></jats:sec>
Journal article
BMJ Open Respiratory Research
BMJ
03/2020
7
e000531 - e000531