Towards optimal patient selection for bronchial thermoplasty treatment in severe asthma: results from the TASMA randomized trial

Abstract

Background: Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) is a treatment for severe uncontrolled asthma patients. Although studies have shown clinical improvement after BT, not all patients respond equally well. Identifying optimal candidates for BT treatment is needed. Aim: To identify patient characteristic differences between BT responders and non-responders. Methods: Patients from the multicenter TASMA trial were included in this analysis. Before BT, a set of clinical, functional, inflammatory and airway biopsy data were collected (Table 1). A positive BT response was defined as a minimal clinically important change of >0.5 on asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) score, 6 months after BT. Results: 30 patients were analyzed. ACQ improved from 2.66 (±0.68) to 2.09 (±1.07) (p Conclusion: IgE and blood eosinophils before BT were higher in BT responders compared to non-responders and might therefore contribute in optimizing patient selection for BT.