Small airways dysfunction: associated factors, clinical aspects and new perspectives.

Authors

Brice Touilloux, Antonio Cartellà, Christophe von Garnier, Claire Descombes, Kevin Nguyen, Adam Ogna, Laurève Chollet, Julien Vaucher, Alessio Casutt

Published in

European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society. Volume 35. Issue 181. Epub Sep 23, 2026.

Abstract

Scientific interest in small airways emerged in the 1960s. However, despite this early recognition, they long remained a "silent" area of the lung. In this nonsystematic narrative mini-review, we evaluated the different spirometry thresholds used to define small airways dysfunction (SAD), comparing them with other diagnostic techniques. We then examined the various factors associated with SAD, focusing on SAD as defined by spirometry.Maximal mid-expiratory flow, especially below the lower limit of normal (LLN), appears to be the most accurate and reproducible spirometric measure to assess SAD. However, no gold-standard spirometric definition has been endorsed by respiratory academic societies, and forced expiratory volume in 3 s or 6 s

PMID:
42778201
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Sep 2026.

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