TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Asthma: Clinical Presentation and Management A1 - Usmani, Omar S. A1 - Barnes, Peter J. A2 - Grippi, Michael A. A2 - Antin-Ozerkis, Danielle E. A2 - Dela Cruz, Charles S. A2 - Kotloff, Robert M. A2 - Kotton, Camille Nelson A2 - Pack, Allan I. PY - 2023 T2 - Fishman’s Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders, 6e AB - Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways characterized by marked temporal variability in airflow obstruction that is often reversible, either spontaneously or with treatment.1 This inflammation presents clinically in susceptible patients with recurrent symptoms of wheezing, chest tightness, cough, and, occasionally, dyspnea and contributes to heightened airway hyperresponsiveness to specific and nonspecific stimuli—a pathognomonic feature of asthma. Increased airway hyperresponsiveness manifests in patients as intolerance to smoke, dust, air pollution, and strong odors, where exposure to such agents in healthy individuals does not induce such symptoms. Asthma is not a single disease entity with a unique pathogenesis, but rather recognized to be a clinical syndrome and heterogeneous disease;2 that is, asthma comprises multiple endotypes that manifest common symptoms but have distinct and probably different pathophysiologic and etiologic mechanisms with an interplay between genetic and environmental factors. This phenotypic heterogeneity in the expression of asthma is multidimensional and includes variability in pathologic, clinical, and physiologic parameters among different patients.3 Recent attention has directed focus on traits that are identifiable and treatable in patients with asthma, such as persistently elevated blood eosinophils, in order to achieve precision treatment with the hope of better patient outcomes.4 SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1194950969 ER -