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Self-organized patchiness in asthma as a prelude to catastrophic shifts

Author

Listed:
  • Jose G. Venegas

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit)
    Harvard Medical School)

  • Tilo Winkler

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit)
    Harvard Medical School)

  • Guido Musch

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit)
    Harvard Medical School)

  • Marcos F. Vidal Melo

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit)
    Harvard Medical School)

  • Dominick Layfield

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit))

  • Nora Tgavalekos

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit)
    Boston University)

  • Alan J. Fischman

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit)
    Harvard Medical School)

  • Ronald J. Callahan

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit)
    Harvard Medical School)

  • Giacomo Bellani

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit))

  • R. Scott Harris

    (Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Radiology, and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit)
    Harvard Medical School)

Abstract

Plan of attack A better understanding of the of the physiological changes that occur during an asthma attack could have implications for the treatment of asthma, which is becoming increasingly prevalent in children throughout the world. A new study shows that during an attack, any obstruction in the larger passageway of the lung can trigger a devastating effect in rest of the airway tree. Venegas et al. used positron emission tomography images of lungs to track lung ventilation patterns in asthmatic patients. Self-organizing clusters of restricted passages reduced the airflow to smaller branches, making them more susceptible to collapse. These findings might help to explain why inhaled asthma drugs are not always effective.

Suggested Citation

  • Jose G. Venegas & Tilo Winkler & Guido Musch & Marcos F. Vidal Melo & Dominick Layfield & Nora Tgavalekos & Alan J. Fischman & Ronald J. Callahan & Giacomo Bellani & R. Scott Harris, 2005. "Self-organized patchiness in asthma as a prelude to catastrophic shifts," Nature, Nature, vol. 434(7034), pages 777-782, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:434:y:2005:i:7034:d:10.1038_nature03490
    DOI: 10.1038/nature03490
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Georg Jäger & Christian Hofer & Marie Kapeller & Manfred Füllsack, 2017. "Hidden early-warning signals in scale-free networks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(12), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Laurent Plantier & Sylvain Marchand-Adam & Laurent Boyer & Camille Taillé & Christophe Delclaux, 2015. "Methacholine-Induced Variations in Airway Volume and the Slope of the Alveolar Capnogram Are Distinctly Associated with Airflow Limitation and Airway Closure," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Tatiana Baumuratova & Simona Dobre & Thierry Bastogne & Thomas Sauter, 2013. "Switch of Sensitivity Dynamics Revealed with DyGloSA Toolbox for Dynamical Global Sensitivity Analysis as an Early Warning for System's Critical Transition," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Tilo Winkler & Marcos F Vidal Melo & Luiza H Degani-Costa & R Scott Harris & John A Correia & Guido Musch & Jose G Venegas, 2015. "Estimation of Noise-Free Variance to Measure Heterogeneity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    5. Kiran D’Souza & Bogdan I Epureanu & Mercedes Pascual, 2015. "Forecasting Bifurcations from Large Perturbation Recoveries in Feedback Ecosystems," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-19, September.
    6. Georg Jäger & Manfred Füllsack, 2019. "Systematically false positives in early warning signal analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-14, February.

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