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High-pitched breath sounds indicate airflow limitation in asymptomatic asthmatic children

Chizu Habukawa1, Yukio Nagasaka, Katsumi Murakami

  • 1Department of Paediatrics, Minami Wakayama Medical Center, Wakayama, Japan. habukawc@mwn.hosp.go.jp

Respirology (Carlton, Vic.)
|February 5, 2009
PubMed

Insights

High-frequency breath sounds in asymptomatic asthmatic children may signal small airway obstruction. Inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) treatment improved lung function and reduced these breath sound abnormalities.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Respiratory Medicine
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Asthmatic children can exhibit subtle airway dysfunction even when asymptomatic.
  • Traditional lung function testing is challenging in infants.
  • Breath sound analysis offers a potential non-invasive method to assess airway function.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if breath sounds can detect subtle airway dysfunction in asymptomatic asthmatic children.
  • To correlate breath sound parameters with spirometric indices.
  • To evaluate the effect of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on breath sounds and lung function.

Main Methods:

  • Breath sounds, specifically highest frequency of inspiratory (HFI) and expiratory (HFE) breath sounds, were recorded in 131 asymptomatic asthmatic children not on ICS.
  • Sound spectrography was used to analyze breath sounds, which were compared with spirometric parameters like %FEF(50), %FEF(75), and FEV(1)/FVC.
  • Children with abnormal %FEF(50) received 1 month of inhaled fluticasone, followed by repeat breath sound and pulmonary function testing.

Main Results:

  • Initial evaluation showed significant correlations between HFI and %FEF(50) (r = -0.45), %FEF(75) (r = -0.456), and FEV(1)/FVC (r = -0.32).
  • HFI did not correlate with %PEF.
  • After ICS treatment in 69 children, %FEF(50) and %FEF(75) improved, with increased %FEF(50) correlating with decreased HFI.

Conclusions:

  • Elevated HFI in asymptomatic asthmatic children may indicate small airway obstruction.
  • ICS treatment can improve small airway function indices and concurrently reduce HFI in these patients.
Abstract

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