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Published on: April 13, 2010
[Evaluation of the bronchial provocation test with histamine in asthmatic children]
Insights
Histamine inhalation challenge effectively diagnoses asthma and assesses severity in children. A threshold of less than 8 mg/ml for bronchial hyperreactivity may require careful interpretation based on population and method.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Respiratory Medicine
- Clinical Allergy
Context:
- Asthma diagnosis and severity assessment in children are critical.
- Histamine inhalation challenge is a standard method for evaluating bronchial hyperreactivity.
- Understanding population-specific responses is key to accurate interpretation.
Purpose:
- To evaluate the utility of histamine inhalation challenge in diagnosing and assessing asthma severity in children.
- To compare bronchial hyperreactivity in asthmatic children, control children, and control adults.
- To determine the reliability of specific thresholds for bronchial hyperreactivity across different groups.
Summary:
- Histamine inhalation challenge was conducted on 32 asthmatic children, 20 control children, and 16 control adults.
- The concentration of histamine causing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PC20FEV1) was measured.
- Control adults showed no values below 8 mg/ml, while 35% of control children had values between 4-8 mg/ml. Asthmatic children on intermittent medication had higher PC20FEV1 than those on daily medication, with 2 mg/ml distinguishing these groups. The test demonstrated high reproducibility.
- A PC20FEV1 value below 8 mg/ml may not always reliably indicate bronchial hyperreactivity, depending on the methodology and population studied.
Impact:
- Provides evidence for the diagnostic and prognostic value of histamine challenge in pediatric asthma.
- Highlights the need for population-specific interpretation of bronchial hyperreactivity thresholds.
- Informs clinical practice regarding the use and interpretation of histamine inhalation challenge in pediatric populations.
Abstract:
Histamine inhalation challenge was performed in 32 asthmatic children aged 6 through 13, 20 control children aged 8 through 14, and 16 control adults aged 24 through 37 years. Histamine concentration producing a 20% fall in baseline FEV1 (PC20FEV1) was obtained. No control adult had a value below 8 mg/ml unlike 7 (35%) control children, all of them with values between 4 and 8 mg/ml. Asthmatics only on intermittent bronchodilators had higher PC20FEV1 values than those requiring daily medications. A value of 2 mg/ml was roughly the limit between these two subpopulations of asthmatic children. Test showed a high reproducibility in a two hour interval. Histamine inhalation challenge is useful in diagnosis of asthma and in assessment of its, severity. A PC20FEV1 value of less than 8 mg/ml may not be always reliable in indicating bronchial hyperreactivity, depending on the method used and-or the population studied.
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