ASTHMA AS A BRONCHIOLITIS

There is abundant evidence that the clinical syndrome of asthma is the result of a chronic inflammatory process in the smaller bronchi and bronchioles and that these changes are particularly important in producing the abnormal airway physiology seen in asthma. The epidemiologic evidence suggests that episodes of viral bronchiolitis in early life predispose to the development of asthma in the adult and isolated cases of proven viral infection show that this can reproduce much of the abnormal histology in asthma. A careful evaluation of the pathology and pathogenesis of viral bronchiolitis could lead to new insights into the causes of asthma and hopefully to new methods of prevention and treatment.