Asthma, spirometry in children

Purpose: This study aimed to compare primary and secondary caregiver QOL within families of children with asthma and determine the potential importance of including secondary caregiver QOL in clinical and research settings. Methods: Participants included 118 families of children with asthma that had primary and secondary caregivers. Families completed measures in a single research session. Caregivers reported on QOL, psychological functioning, and family burden; children completed a measure of QOL...

BACKGROUND: Breath sound parameters have been suggested to be new biomarkers of airway function in patients with asthma. METHODS: We investigated the effect of bronchodilation on breath sound parameters in sixty-four children (mean age, 8.9 years; range, 6-16 years) using a breath sound analyzer. The breath sound parameters included frequency limiting 50% and 99% of the power spectrum (F50 and F99 ), roll-off from 600-1200 Hz (slope), and spectrum curve indices such as the ratios of the third and fourth power area to the total area of the power spectrum (P3 /PT and P4 /PT ), total area under the curve (A3 /AT and B4 /AT ), and the ratio of power and frequency at 50% and 75% of the highest frequency of the power spectrum (RPF75 and RPF50 )...

The development of new asthma biologics and receptor blockers for the treatment of paediatric severe asthma raises challenges. It is unclear whether there are sufficient children in Europe to recruit into randomised placebo-controlled trials to establish efficacy and safety in this age group. In February 2016, the European Respiratory Society funded a clinical research collaboration entitled "Severe Paediatric Asthma Collaborative in Europe" (SPACE). We now report the SPACE protocol for a prospective pan-European observational study of paediatric severe asthma...

BACKGROUND: The phenotypes and endotypes of severe therapy-resistant asthma (STRA) have not been fully elucidated in children. The aim of the present study was to investigate inflammatory markers in the induced sputum of children with STRA and to compare them with those present in a group of children who achieved control. METHODS: A prospective cohort of children (6-18 years of age) diagnosed with severe asthma (GINA criteria) who had undergone treatment for at least 6 months was comprehensively followed for 3 months...

BACKGROUND: Asthma is characterized by hyperresponsiveness of the airways, and exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) is a symptom that limits a large proportion of asthmatic patients, especially children. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) leads to a reduction in the reactivity of the airways. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of outpatient treatment with CPAP and bilevel pressure combined with respiratory physical therapy for children and adolescents with asthma following bronchial hyperresponsiveness caused by an exercise bronchoprovocation test...

BACKGROUND: Asthma guidelines guide health practitioners to adjust treatments to the minimum level required for asthma control. As many people with asthma have an eosinophilic endotype, tailoring asthma medications based on airway eosinophilic levels (sputum eosinophils or exhaled nitric oxide, FeNO) may improve asthma outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To synthesise the evidence from our updated Cochrane systematic reviews, for tailoring asthma medication based on eosinophilic inflammatory markers (sputum analysis and FeNO) for improving asthma-related outcomes in children and adults...

AIM: This study evaluated children hospitalised for bronchiolitis at less than six months of age to see if they had reduced lung function in early adolescence. METHODS: We have prospectively followed 166 children hospitalised for infant bronchiolitis in 2001-2004 at Tampere University Hospital, Finland. At 10-13 years of age, flow-volume spirometry was measured in 89 cases and 108 controls without infant bronchiolitis from the local population register. Parameters of flow-volume spirometry before and after bronchodilation were analysed...

BACKGROUND: Asthma is the most common chronic disease among school-aged children under 18 years of age and is a major cause of morbidity, loss of school days, and increased hospitalizations. Asthma disproportionately affects low-income, minority youth in Alabama. The benefits of improving asthma control and self-management have significance for improving health, preventing disease, and reducing health disparities by addressing social, behavioral, environmental, economic, and medical determinants of health...

OBJECTIVE: To establish the relationship between vitamin D serum levels, pulmonary function, asthma control, and passive smoking exposure in children with asthma. METHODS: We studied the relationship between 25-hydroxy cholecalciferol (25[OH]D) concentrations and baseline spirometry and levels of asthma control, and the effect of parental tobacco smoke exposure in 152 white children (84 boys [55.3%]) with a mean age ± standard deviation of 9.9 ± 2.0 years (range 5-15 years) in a cross-sectional study carried out during the winter and early spring...

BACKGROUND: Maximal lung function in early adulthood is an important determinant of mortality and COPD. We investigated whether distinct trajectories of lung function are present during childhood and whether these extend to adulthood and infancy. METHODS: To ascertain trajectories of FEV1 , we studied two population-based birth cohorts (MAAS and ALSPAC) with repeat spirometry from childhood into early adulthood (1046 participants from 5-16 years and 1390 participants from 8-24 years)...

We have a unique opportunity to significantly reduce the worldwide burden of asthma in children and affect respiratory outcomes in adults. However, this will require a paradigm shift that is directed at altering the natural history of asthma, reducing asthma exacerbations, and preventing long-term adverse outcomes of childhood asthma. Attention should continue to be directed toward minimizing risk, as well as impairment, with a goal to achieve optimal control. Based on several National Institutes of Health studies conducted over the last 10 years, we now have the tools necessary to accomplish this goal...

Introduction: There are scarce data about the role of vitamin D (vitD) in asthma control related to seasons and other confounders. Aim: To investigate the seasonal relationship between vitD levels and asthma control, lung function tests (LFTs) and cytokines during a 1-year period, among 7-17-year-old asthmatic children. Material and methods: Thirty patients with asthma with house dust mite monosensitization were evaluated 3 monthly about the previous month's health and vitD related lifestyle factors and asthma control test (ACT), spirometry and bronchial provocation test for a year...

INTRODUCTION: Severe asthma accounts for 5-7% of all asthma cases. The World Health Organization proposed a follow-up protocol to classify cases into severe, treatment-resistant asthma (STRA) or severe, difficult-to-control asthma (SDCA). OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical, functional, and therapeutic characteristics of patients with STRA or SDCA. METHODS: Cross-sectional, observational, and analytical study to assess the diagnosis, the extent of control (clinical and functional), comorbidities, treatment adherence, inhalation technique, and environmental factors in patients with severe asthma...

BACKGROUND: The goals of asthma management aim to control the symptoms and minimize future risk. There is, however, an option to stop controller medication if the patient has been well-controlled for at least 6-12 months. To assess control, both clinical symptom assessment and lung function should be monitored periodically. In practical clinical practice of pediatric patients, lung function is not available at all health centers. OBJECTIVES: to determine lung function with a focus on small airway function and the risk of reversibility among children who have been symptom-controlled...

BACKGROUND: Endurance swimming exercises coupled to disinfection by-products exposure has been associated with increased airways dysfunction and neurogenic inflammation in elite swimmers. However, the impact of swimming pool exposure at a recreational level on autonomic activity has never been explored. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how swimming pool attendance is influencing lung and autonomic function in school-aged children. METHODS: A total of 858 children enrolled a cross sectional survey...

BACKGROUND: Asthma often begins early in childhood. However, the risk for persistence is challenging to evaluate. OBJECTIVE: This longitudinal study relates lung function assessed with impulse oscillometry (IOS) in preschool children to asthma in adolescence. METHODS: Lung function was measured with IOS in 255 children with asthma-like symptoms aged 4-7 years. Baseline measurements were followed by exercise challenge and bronchodilation tests...

BACKGROUND: Rhinitis and asthma frequently coexist. Peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) objectively evaluates nasal obstruction. Lower airway flow's impact on PNIF has seldom been analysed in children. We aimed to study the associations between PNIF and: 1)forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) in children with allergic rhinitis and asthma and healthy controls; 2)allergic rhinitis and asthma control subjective evaluation. METHODS: Sequential assessments of PNIF before and after nasal decongestion and spirometry with bronchodilation test were performed in 65 children (6-12 years) with allergic rhinitis and asthma, and 24 gender, age-matched healthy controls...

BACKGROUND: The transition from early childhood wheezing to persistent asthma is linked to lung function impairment over time. Little is known how the methods used to study lung function at different ages correlate longitudinally. METHODS: Sixty-four children with a history of hospitalization for bronchiolitis before 6 months of age were prospectively studied with impulse oscillometry (IOS) at the mean age of 6.3 years and these preschool IOS results were compared with flow-volume spirometry (FVS) measurements at mean age of 11...

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between residential proximity to agricultural fumigant use and respiratory symptoms and lung function in 7-year old children. METHODS: Participants were 294 children living in the agricultural Salinas Valley, California and enrolled in the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children Of Salinas (CHAMACOS) study. We obtained information on respiratory symptoms and asthma medication use from maternal questionnaires and children performed spirometry to determine the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 ), forced vital capacity (FVC), and forced expiratory flow 25-75% (FEF25-75 ) at 7-years of age...

AIM: Inflammation is a major factor in the pathophysiology of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and it contributes to accelerated telomere shortening and cellular ageing. This study aimed to determine its effect on telomere length and lung function in school-aged children born preterm with BPD. METHODS: We examined 29 children with BPD, born preterm in Stockholm county 1998-99, along with 28 children with allergic asthma born at term matched for age and gender. At 10 years of age, we measured relative telomere length (RTL) in blood by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, lung function by spirometry and inflammation by fractional exhaled nitric oxide and blood cytokines...