1,721,003 research outputs found
Asthma control in children: Body plethysmography in addition to spirometry.
No full textBACKGROUND
There is a lack of agreement among measures of asthma control in children. In Central Europe, body plethysmography is additionally used for asthma monitoring. However, its value is still unclear.
OBJECTIVES
We investigated the possible additional value of body plethysmographic measures (specific resistance, residual volume-total lung capacity ratio [RV/TLC]) compared with spirometric measures forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1 ), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV 1 /FVC, forced expiratory flow at 25% to 75% of forced vital capacity (FEF 25-75 ), and fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) for assessment of asthma control.
METHODS
One hundred and forty-five asthmatic children aged 5 to 17 were included. All children performed measurements of FeNO, spirometry, and body plethymography. Asthma control was assessed by the asthma control test (c-ACT/ACT) and a doctor's assessment of asthma control.
RESULTS
Investigating single lung function parameters, FEV1 , FEV 1 /FVC, FEF 25-75 and RV/TLC differed between controlled and partly controlled asthma. However, we found no differences between controlled and uncontrolled asthma with regard to single lung function parameters or for any parameter if investigated in a multivariable approach. This was also true if we combined obtained parameters from spirometry (comparing pathologic vs normal spirometry). Investigating the combination of body plethysmography and doctor's assessment of asthma control a significant association was found ( P = 0.02). Furthermore, combined spirometry and body plethysmography showed a significant association with both doctor's assessed asthma control ( P = 0.009) and the c-ACT/ACT ( P = 0.04). The addition of FeNO did not improve the results.
CONCLUSIONS
The combination of body plethysmography and spirometry shows best agreement with asthma control in children compared with spirometry or body plethysmography alone. Further studies are needed to find out whether additional measurements of body plethysmography improve the outcome of children in asthma monitoring
Lung function measurements in toddlers and preschool children. Consensus statement by the working group on lung function of the Society of Pediatric Pneumology
No full textLung function measurements are more and more being carried out in toddlers and preschool children. Special requirements must be fulfilled with respect to equipment and appropriate age-related application. This article presents the current consensus on application and interpretation of lung function measurements in toddlers and preschool children. A literature search was carried out and an expert consensus opinion was reached. The most frequently used techniques are spirometry, measurements of resistance using forced oscillation or whole body plethysmography and gas washout techniques with the latter being used more and more in specialized centers. The results obtained by these methods are reproducible when performed by trained personnel. For the assessment of spirometric measurements, the new reference values of the Global Lung Function Initiative are recommended. Lung function measurements can also be performed in toddlers and preschool children and they become increasingly important both for diagnosis and assessment during the course of disease
Bronchial provocation in childhood and adolescence. Consensus statement of the working group on lung function of the Society of Pediatric Pneumology
No full textBronchial provocation tests play an important role in the diagnostics and therapy monitoring of children and adolescents with obstructive airway diseases. Corresponding recommendations were published by the working group on lung function of the Society of Pediatric Pneumology in this journal in 1999. The recommendations have been revised with respect to the further developments in methods and evidence in recent years. A literature search was carried out and an expert consensus statement was formulated. Revised recommendations and reference values are given for the indications, practical execution and assessment of the most important provocation tests (i.e. methacholine, exercise challenge, hypertonic saline, mannitol and allergen extracts). It is absolutely necessary that the patient history and the clinical symptoms are taken into consideration for the selection of procedures and interpretation of the results. Standardized bronchial provocation with the direct and indirect tests described here allow valid functional diagnostics even in childhood and adolescence and belong to the diagnostic repertoire of every pediatric pneumological practice and outpatient clinic
New international reference values for spirometry: implications for clinical issues using a comparative analysis of a paediatric population
No full textClinical presentation and basic defect of the CFTR genotype p.Phe508del / p.Arg117His in a mother and her monozygous twin daughters
No full textElevated exhaled leukotriene B-4 in the small airway compartment in children with asthma
No full textBackground: Inflammatory processes in the asthmatic lung involve the large and small airway and alveolar sites. Leukotriene B-4 (LTB4) is an important disease marker, but its role in inflammation of the small airways in asthma has not been established yet. Objective: To distinguish between large and small airway or alveolar LTB4 concentrations in children with asthma using the new technique of fractionated exhaled breath condensate sampling. Methods: Sixty-eight children (9-17 years old, 33 children with asthma and 35 controls) underwent fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurements, lung function testing, and collection of fractionated exhaled breath condensate using a capnograph-based approach. The LTB4 concentrations in the small airway or alveolar and large airway fractions were correlated to disease status, lung function impairment, and clinical parameters. Results: Children with asthma had significantly higher LTB4 concentrations in the small airway or alveolar fraction than controls (5.58 pg/mL; 95% interquartile range [IQR], 2.0-11.77 pg/mL; vs 2.0 pg/mL; 95% IQR, 2.0-6.2 pg/mL; P=.003). No difference was found between the groups in the large airway fraction. Children with obstructive lung function impairment (forced expiratory volume in 1 second z score < -1.65) had increased small airway or alveolar LTB4 concentrations compared with children without impairment (2.0 pg/ mL; 95% IQR, 2.0-9.21 pg/mL; vs 18.32 pg/mL; 95% IQR, 3.7-23.02 pg/mL; P=.04). Children with asthma but without pathologic obstructive lung function still had higher LTB4 concentrations than controls (5.57 pg/mL; 95% IQR, 2.00-10.60 pg/mL; vs 2.00 pg/mL; 95% IQR, 2.00-6.20 pg/mL; P=.01). Conclusion: LTB4 is detectable and elevated in the small airway or alveolar fraction of exhaled breath condensate in pediatric asthma. Because of the possibility of detecting elevated levels in patients without lung function impairment in controlled disease, it may be used as a noninvasive marker of small airways disease; however, future long-term studies are needed. (C) 2015 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
Smartphone spirometry in children for asthma diagnosis: Measurement quality over seven days
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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