Effects of Bronchial Thermoplasty on Airway Smooth Muscle and Collagen Deposition in Asthma

Abstract

For patients with severe asthma, bronchial thermoplasty reduced the smooth muscle mass of treated airway segments, regardless of the baseline level of muscle mass. Treatment also altered the deposition of collagen. At follow-up, bronchial thermoplasty improved asthma control; however, the limited number of subjects did not allow us to evaluate possible correlations between these improvements and the studied histological parameters. Further studies are needed to confirm these results and evaluate their persistence.