Chinese expert consensus on clinical use of non-invasive airway inflammation assessment in bronchial asthma.

The most essential pathological change of bronchial asthma (hereinafter referred to as asthma) is chronic airway inflammation. The severity of airway inflammation is closely associated with airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), which is the origin of the clinical symptoms (1). Therefore, the assessment of airway inflammation, particularly by noninvasive methods, is of great significance to understand the pathophysiological characteristics of asthma, to guide the management and to achieve better overall control of asthma (2).