Small airways disease
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Weerakkody Y, Di Muzio B, Knipe H, Small airways disease. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 07 Dec 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-22818
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rID:
22818
Article created:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Yuranga Weerakkody had no recorded disclosures.
View Yuranga Weerakkody's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Yuranga Weerakkody had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Yuranga Weerakkody's current disclosures
Revisions:
6 times, by
3 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
Systems:
Tags:
Synonyms:
- Small air ways inflammatory disease
- Small airways inflammatory diseases
- Small airways diseases
- Peripheral airways disease
- Peripheral airways diseases
- Small airways disease (SAD)
- Small airway disease
Small airways disease comprise of a group infectious as well as non-infectious conditions that affect the small airways (i.e. airways that are more peripheral to the main bronchi and proximal bronchioles (4th the 14th generation) - arbitrarily considered to be those with an internal diameter of ≤2 mm 3).
Pathology
While some authors consider this term synonymous with a bronchiolitis 4, conditions such as asthma may also fall under this group 7. There are also many other conditions that can affect or be associated with small airways which include:
sarcoidosis - pulmonary manifestations of sarcoidosis 3
micro carcinoid tumourlets - diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine hyperplasia 3
drug-induced small airways disease
COVID-19 infection - usually as a delayed / late sequelae 12,13
-
connective tissues diseases
pulmonary manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease 11
Sjogren syndrome 9-10
Radiographic features
CT
There are many CT features associated with small airways disease, which include:
-
direct signs
thickened peripheral airways: may only be seen in the proximal portion
-
indirect signs (many of these features may be nonspecific on their own):
tree-in-bud changes 1,8
References
- 1. Sharma V, Shaaban AM, Berges G et-al. The radiological spectrum of small-airway diseases. Semin. Ultrasound CT MR. 2003;23 (4): 339-51. Pubmed citation
- 2. Tasker AD, Flower CD. Imaging the airways. Hemoptysis, bronchiectasis, and small airways disease. Clin. Chest Med. 2000;20 (4): 761-73, viii. Pubmed citation
- 3. Hansell DM. Small airways diseases: detection and insights with computed tomography. Eur. Respir. J. 2001;17 (6): 1294-313. Pubmed citation
- 4. Franquet T, Müller NL. Disorders of the small airways: high-resolution computed tomographic features. Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2003;24 (04): 437-44. doi:10.1055/s-2003-42378 - Pubmed citation
- 5. Abbott GF, Rosado-De-Christenson ML, Rossi SE et-al. Imaging of small airways disease. J Thorac Imaging. 2009;24 (4): 285-98. doi:10.1097/RTI.0b013e3181c1ab83 - Pubmed citation
- 6. Waitches GM, Stern EJ. High-resolution CT of peripheral airways diseases. Radiol. Clin. North Am. 2002;40 (1): 21-9. Pubmed citation
- 7. Teel GS, Engeler CE, Tashijian JH et-al. Imaging of small airways disease. Radiographics. 1996;16 (1): 27-41. Radiographics (abstract) - Pubmed citation
- 8. Rossi SE, Franquet T, Volpacchio M et-al. Tree-in-bud pattern at thin-section CT of the lungs: radiologic-pathologic overview. Radiographics. 2005;25 (3): 789-801. Radiographics (full text) - doi:10.1148/rg.253045115 - Pubmed citation
- 9. Papiris SA, Maniati M, Constantopoulos SH et-al. Lung involvement in primary Sjögren's syndrome is mainly related to the small airway disease. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 1999;58 (1): 61-4. Free text at pubmed - Pubmed citation
- 10. Nakanishi M, Fukuoka J, Tanaka T et-al. Small airway disease associated with Sjögren's syndrome: clinico-pathological correlations. Respir Med. 2011;105 (12): 1931-8. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2011.08.009 - Pubmed citation
- 11. Pierre-Régis Burgel, Anne Bergeron, Jacques de Blic, Philippe Bonniaud, Arnaud Bourdin, Pascal Chanez, Thierry Chinet, Jean-Charles Dalphin, Philippe Devillier, Antoine Deschildre, Alain Didier, Marianne Kambouchner, Christiane Knoop, François Laurent, Hilario Nunes, Thierry Perez, Nicolas Roche, Isabelle Tillie-Leblond, Daniel Dusser. Small airways diseases, excluding asthma and COPD: an overview. European Respiratory Review. 22 (128): 131. doi:10.1183/09059180.00001313 - Pubmed
- 12. Huang R, Zhu J, Zhou J et al. Inspiratory and Expiratory Chest High-Resolution CT: Small-Airway Disease Evaluation in Patients with COVID-19. Curr Med Imaging. 2021;17(11):1299-307. doi:10.2174/1573405617999210112194621 - Pubmed
- 13. Cho J, Villacreses R, Nagpal P et al. Quantitative Chest CT Assessment of Small Airways Disease in Post-Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Radiology. 2022;304(1):185-92. doi:10.1148/radiol.212170 - Pubmed
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