In:
Respiration, S. Karger AG, Vol. 69, No. 5 ( 2002), p. 397-405
Abstract:
〈 i 〉 Objectives: 〈 /i 〉 The aim of this study was to compare subjective measures (overall health assessment both by the study physician and the child’s mother) with objective measurements of forced expiratory volumes (FEV 〈 sub 〉 t 〈 /sub 〉 ) and maximal flow at functional residual capacity & #118; & #775; 〈 sub 〉 max 〈 /sub 〉 FRC) in recurrently wheezy infants. 〈 i 〉 Methods: 〈 /i 〉 Sixteen wheezy infants (12 boys) aged 8–26 months were studied. A clinical assessment at visit 1 was followed by the run-in period during which day- and nighttime asthma symptom scores were obtained. The actual study period consisted of 2 visits when patient’s lung function was assessed. The first of which was during an acute exacerbation (visit 2), while the second was when the infant was asymptomatic (visit 3). FEV 〈 sub 〉 t 〈 /sub 〉 were obtained by the raised volume rapid thoracic compression technique (RVRTC) and & #118; & #775; 〈 sub 〉 max 〈 /sub 〉 FRC by the tidal volume rapid thoracic compression technique (TVRTC). 〈 i 〉 Results: 〈 /i 〉 Mean FEV 〈 sub 〉 t 〈 /sub 〉 but not mean & #118; & #775; 〈 sub 〉 max 〈 /sub 〉 FRC were significantly lower at visit 2 compared to visit 3 (FEV 〈 sub 〉 0.5 〈 /sub 〉 : p = 0.005, and FEV 〈 sub 〉 0.75 〈 /sub 〉 : p = 0.002; & #118; & #775; 〈 sub 〉 max 〈 /sub 〉 FRC: p = 0.15) and correlated well with overall health assessment by the study physician (FEV 〈 sub 〉 0.5 〈 /sub 〉 : r = 0.82, and FEV 〈 sub 〉 0.75 〈 /sub 〉 : r = 0.84), but not with the overall health assessment by the mother. 〈 i 〉 Conclusions: 〈 /i 〉 We have shown in the present study that objective measurements of FEV 〈 sub 〉 t 〈 /sub 〉 from a raised lung volume correlate well with the overall health assessment by the study physician; this was in contrast to measurements of & #118; & #775; 〈 sub 〉 max 〈 /sub 〉 FRC in the tidal volume range. We therefore conclude that the RVRTC technique is a feasible method to assess and monitor obstructive lung disease in infancy.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0025-7931
,
1423-0356
Language:
English
Publisher:
S. Karger AG
Publication Date:
2002
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1464419-8
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