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Relationships between specific airway resistance and forced expiratory flows in asthmatic children

Bruno Mahut1, Ludovic Trinquart, Plamen Bokov

  • 1Cabinet La Berma, Antony, France.

Plos One
|April 22, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Specific airway resistance (sRaw) is more closely linked to FEF(50%) than to FEV(1) in children with asthma. This finding suggests sRaw in preschool children may predict future mild airflow limitation.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Respiratory Physiology

Background:

  • Early airflow obstruction in asthmatic children shows greater reduction in FEF(50%) than FEV(1).
  • Increased specific airway resistance (sRaw) is observed alongside spirometry changes.
  • A hypothesis proposed a stronger link between sRaw and FEF(50%) compared to FEV(1).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the relationship between forced expiratory flows and sRaw in asthmatic children.
  • To determine if preschool sRaw predicts later forced expiratory flow impairment.

Main Methods:

  • Transversal analysis of pulmonary function tests (sRaw, forced expiratory flows) in 2193 asthmatic children.
  • Retrospective longitudinal assessment of 365 children from preschool to school age.

Main Results:

  • Transversal data revealed sRaw is related differently to FEF(50%) and FEV(1), with a stronger correlation to FEF(50%) (r = -0.64) than FEV(1) (r = -0.39).
  • A one-compartment lung model explained the observed relationships.
  • Longitudinal analysis showed preschool sRaw correlated with subsequent FEF(50%) (% predicted) (-0.31) but weakly with FEV(1) (% predicted) (-0.09).

Conclusions:

  • Specific airway resistance (sRaw) demonstrates a stronger association with FEF(50%) than FEV(1).
  • sRaw in preschool children may serve as a predictor for subsequent mild airflow limitation.
Abstract

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