Airway remodelling in cough-variant asthma

Subepithelial-layer thickening, a pathological feature of airway remodelling, is present in cough-variant asthma. In bronchial biopsy samples we found mean subepithelial-layer thickness was 7·1 (SE 0·4) μm in patients with cough-variant asthma, 8·6 (0·4) μm in patients with classic asthma with wheezing, and 5·0 (0·2) μm in healthy controls. Thickness was significantly higher in patients with asthma than in controls, and was significantly greater in those with classic asthma than in those with cough-variant asthma. Early anti-inflammatory treatment might, therefore, be beneficial in cough-variant asthma, as recommended in classic asthma.