Bronchial thickening is a pathological feature of asthma that has been evaluated using computed tomography (CT), an ionising radiation technique. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with ultrashort echo time (UTE) pulse sequences could be an alternative to CT.

The primary aim of this study was to measure bronchial dimensions using MRI-UTE in asthmatic patients by evaluating the accuracy and agreement with CT, by comparing severe and non-severe asthma and by correlating with pulmonary function tests.

We assessed the bronchial dimensions of wall area (WA), lumen area (LA), normalised wall area (WA%) and wall thickness (WT) by MRI-UTE and CT in 15 patients with non-severe asthma and 15 age- and sex-matched patients with severe asthma (NCT03089346). Accuracy and agreement between MRI and CT was evaluated using paired t-tests and Bland–Altman analysis. Reproducibility was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient and Bland–Altman analysis. Non-severe and severe asthmatic parameters were compared using t-tests, Mann–Whitney tests or Fisher's exact tests. Correlations were assessed by Pearson or Spearman coefficients.

LA, WA% and WT were not significantly different when measured by MRI-UTE and CT, with good correlation and concordance. Inter- and intra-observer reproducibility was moderate to good. WA% and WT were both higher in patients with severe asthma compared to non-severe asthma. WA, WA% and WT were all negatively correlated with forced expiratory volume in 1 s.

We have demonstrated that MRI-UTE is an accurate and reliable radiation-free method to assess bronchial wall dimensions in asthma, with enough spatial resolution to differentiate severe from non-severe asthma.

支气管增厚是哮喘的一种病理特征，已使用计算机断层扫描 (CT)（一种电离辐射技术）进行了评估。具有超短回波时间 (UTE) 脉冲序列的磁共振成像 (MRI) 可以替代 CT。

本研究的主要目的是通过评估与 CT 的准确性和一致性，通过比较严重和非严重哮喘以及与肺功能测试相关联，使用 MRI-UTE 测量哮喘患者的支气管尺寸。

我们通过 MRI-UTE 和 CT 评估了 15 名非重度哮喘患者和 15 名年龄在患有严重哮喘的性别匹配患者（NCT03089346）。使用配对 t 检验和 Bland-Altman 分析评估 MRI 和 CT 之间的准确性和一致性。使用类内相关系数和 Bland-Altman 分析评估可重复性。使用 t 检验、Mann-Whitney 检验或 Fisher 精确检验比较非严重和严重哮喘参数。通过 Pearson 或 Spearman 系数评估相关性。

MRI-UTE和CT测量LA、WA%和WT差异不显着，具有良好的相关性和一致性。观察者间和观察者内的可重复性中等至良好。与非重症哮喘患者相比，重症哮喘患者的 WA% 和 WT 均较高。WA、WA%和WT均与1 s用力呼气量呈负相关。

我们已经证明 MRI-UTE 是一种准确可靠的无辐射评估哮喘支气管壁尺寸的方法，具有足够的空间分辨率来区分重度和非重度哮喘。