
This retrospective study of 36 nonsmoking patients with stable asthma attempted to correlate mosaic attenuation, which was assessed visually and automatically, and the E/I ratios of MLD and LAA% with clinical and physiological variables, including impulse oscillometry (IOS) indices.
Only the E/I ratios of MLD and LAA% correlated with forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity of spirometry and the IOS indices of resistance from 5 to 20 Hz.
The automatic method for analysis of mosaic attenuation could be useful, but the results themselves may not be reflecting small airway involvement of asthma, unlike the E/I ratios of MLD and LAA%.
References:
Assessment of Small Airways with Computed Tomography: Mosaic Attenuation or Lung Density. Oguma T et al. Respiration. 2015 Apr 30. [Epub ahead of print]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25924974