WASHINGTON, DC -- April 5, 2010 -- Measuring differences in blood flow patterns in the lungs may help researchers identify which smokers are most likely to develop emphysema and could provide earlier warnings to those at risk of the disease. The findings are available in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Eric Hoffman, PhD, Department of Radiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, and colleagues studied the lungs of smokers and non-smokers with a computed tomography (CT) scan imaging technique, which revealed blood flow patterns in different sections of the lungs of the 2 cohorts.
The authors found that inhaling tobacco smoke inflamed parts of the lungs and altered blood flow as the smokers' lungs attempted to maximise oxygen uptake. Regions of low blood flow in inflamed lung tissue can promote tissue destruction and inhibit tissue repair, eventually forming the symptoms characteristic of emphysema.
After scanning 41 people, the researchers could tell the difference between those who had never smoked, smokers with no signs of emphysema, and smokers with normal lung function but with early, subtle signs of emphysema. The last group of smokers had the most disturbed patterns of blood flow in otherwise normal lungs. The researchers suggest that their results could help provide measurements of the risk for, and extent of, emphysema, and could help target and test pharmaceutical interventions.
Dr. Hoffman and study co-author Geoffrey McLennan are founders and shareholders of VIDA Diagnostics, a company commercialising lung imaging software derived from laboratory research.
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