Vascularity in asthmatic airways: relation to inhaled steroid dose

The physiological consequences of altered airways structure on the function of asthmatic airways has been of interest to clinicians and physiologists since the classic study of Huber and Koessler in 1922.1 These authors provided the first measurements of airway wall thickness in relation to their size and reported that the airway wall of patients who died of asthma was thicker than that of controls. Many have subsequently commented on this finding,2-7 and Freedman provided an excellent review of its functional significance in 1972.8 A systematic analysis of the effect of wall thickening on airway function by Moreno and colleagues showed that a …