Sputum colour can identify patients with neutrophilic inflammation in asthma without the need for sputum processing and differential cell count, according to the findings of a recent study. This may assist in clinical decision making and thus facilitate the management of asthma. Although blood eosinophil count and fractional exhaled nitric oxide concentration can successfully predict the presence of eosinophilic inflammation, there is a need for simpler clinical markers that could distinguish inflammation subtypes in asthma.
Recently, a clinical study assessed whether sputum colour could distinguish between asthma inflammatory phenotypes and identify the presence of neutrophilic inflammation in asthma. Study Design This study included 271 adult patients with stable asthma. Sputum colour was determined using the sputum colour chart and correlated to differential cell counts and CXCL-8…
