Bronchial wall T2w MRI signal as a new imaging biomarker of severe asthma.

IF 4.1 2区医学 Q1 RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING

Insights into Imaging Pub Date : 2025-03-25 DOI:10.1186/s13244-025-01939-1

Ilyes Benlala, Gaël Dournes, Pierre-Olivier Girodet, François Laurent, Wadie Ben Hassen, Fabien Baldacci, Baudouin Denis De Senneville, Patrick Berger

{"title":"Bronchial wall T2w MRI signal as a new imaging biomarker of severe asthma.","authors":"Ilyes Benlala, Gaël Dournes, Pierre-Olivier Girodet, François Laurent, Wadie Ben Hassen, Fabien Baldacci, Baudouin Denis De Senneville, Patrick Berger","doi":"10.1186/s13244-025-01939-1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Objectives: Severe asthma patients are prone to severe exacerbations with a need of hospital admission increasing the economic burden on healthcare systems. T2w lung MRI was found to be useful in the assessment of bronchial inflammation. The main goal of this study is to compare quantitative MRI T2 signal bronchial intensity between patients with severe and non-severe asthma.Methods: This is an ancillary study of a prospective single-center study (NCT03089346). We assessed the mean T2 intensity MRI signal of the bronchial wall area (BrWall_T2-MIS) in 15 severe and 15 age and sex-matched non-severe asthmatic patients. They also have had pulmonary function tests (PFTs), fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and blood eosinophils count (Eos). Comparisons between the two groups were performed using Student's t-test. Correlations were assessed using Pearson coefficients. Reproducibility was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman analysis.Results: BrWall_T2-MIS was higher in severe than in non-severe asthma patients (74 ± 12 vs 49 ± 14; respectively p < 0.001). BrWall_T2-MIS showed a moderate inverse correlation with PFTs in the whole cohort (r = -0.54, r = -0.44 for FEV1(%pred) and FEV1/FVC respectively, p ≤ 0.01) and in the severe asthma group (r = -0.53, r = -0.44 for FEV1(%pred) and FEV1/FVC respectively, p ≤ 0.01). Eos was moderately correlated with BrWall_T2-MIS in severe asthma group (r = 0.52, p = 0.047). Reproducibility was almost perfect with ICC = 0.99 and mean difference in Bland-Altman analysis of -0.15 [95% CI = -0.48-0.16].Conclusion: Quantification of bronchial wall T2w signal intensity appears to be able to differentiate severe from non-severe asthma and correlates with obstructive PFTs' parameters and inflammatory markers in severe asthma.Critical relevance statement: The development of non-ionizing imaging biomarkers could play an essential role in the management of patients with severe asthma in the current era of biological therapies.Key points: Severe asthma exhibits severe exacerbations with a high burden on healthcare systems. T2w bronchial wall signal intensity is related to inflammatory biomarker in severe asthma. T2w MRI may represent a non-invasive tool to follow up severe asthma patients.","PeriodicalId":13639,"journal":{"name":"Insights into Imaging","volume":"16 1","pages":"71"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11937477/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Insights into Imaging","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13244-025-01939-1","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives: Severe asthma patients are prone to severe exacerbations with a need of hospital admission increasing the economic burden on healthcare systems. T2w lung MRI was found to be useful in the assessment of bronchial inflammation. The main goal of this study is to compare quantitative MRI T2 signal bronchial intensity between patients with severe and non-severe asthma.

Methods: This is an ancillary study of a prospective single-center study (NCT03089346). We assessed the mean T2 intensity MRI signal of the bronchial wall area (BrWall_T2-MIS) in 15 severe and 15 age and sex-matched non-severe asthmatic patients. They also have had pulmonary function tests (PFTs), fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and blood eosinophils count (Eos). Comparisons between the two groups were performed using Student's t-test. Correlations were assessed using Pearson coefficients. Reproducibility was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman analysis.

Results: BrWall_T2-MIS was higher in severe than in non-severe asthma patients (74 ± 12 vs 49 ± 14; respectively p < 0.001). BrWall_T2-MIS showed a moderate inverse correlation with PFTs in the whole cohort (r = -0.54, r = -0.44 for FEV1(%pred) and FEV1/FVC respectively, p ≤ 0.01) and in the severe asthma group (r = -0.53, r = -0.44 for FEV1(%pred) and FEV1/FVC respectively, p ≤ 0.01). Eos was moderately correlated with BrWall_T2-MIS in severe asthma group (r = 0.52, p = 0.047). Reproducibility was almost perfect with ICC = 0.99 and mean difference in Bland-Altman analysis of -0.15 [95% CI = -0.48-0.16].

Conclusion: Quantification of bronchial wall T2w signal intensity appears to be able to differentiate severe from non-severe asthma and correlates with obstructive PFTs' parameters and inflammatory markers in severe asthma.

Critical relevance statement: The development of non-ionizing imaging biomarkers could play an essential role in the management of patients with severe asthma in the current era of biological therapies.

Key points: Severe asthma exhibits severe exacerbations with a high burden on healthcare systems. T2w bronchial wall signal intensity is related to inflammatory biomarker in severe asthma. T2w MRI may represent a non-invasive tool to follow up severe asthma patients.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Insights into Imaging Medicine-Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

4.30%

发文量

182

审稿时长

13 weeks

期刊介绍： Insights into Imaging (I³) is a peer-reviewed open access journal published under the brand SpringerOpen. All content published in the journal is freely available online to anyone, anywhere! I³ continuously updates scientific knowledge and progress in best-practice standards in radiology through the publication of original articles and state-of-the-art reviews and opinions, along with recommendations and statements from the leading radiological societies in Europe. Founded by the European Society of Radiology (ESR), I³ creates a platform for educational material, guidelines and recommendations, and a forum for topics of controversy. A balanced combination of review articles, original papers, short communications from European radiological congresses and information on society matters makes I³ an indispensable source for current information in this field. I³ is owned by the ESR, however authors retain copyright to their article according to the Creative Commons Attribution License (see Copyright and License Agreement). All articles can be read, redistributed and reused for free, as long as the author of the original work is cited properly. The open access fees (article-processing charges) for this journal are kindly sponsored by ESR for all Members. The journal went open access in 2012, which means that all articles published since then are freely available online.