Related Experiment Videos
Tidal breathing analysis and response to salbutamol in awake young children with and without asthma
K H Carlsen1, K C Lødrup Carlsen
1Voksentoppen Centre of Asthma and Allergy, National Hospital of Asthma, Oslo, Norway.
Insights
Tidal breathing analysis effectively distinguishes asthma in children by identifying unique lung function patterns. This method also detects significant improvements in lung function after salbutamol treatment in asthmatic children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Respiratory Physiology
Background:
- Asthma diagnosis in young children presents challenges.
- Objective lung function measures are crucial for accurate diagnosis and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if tidal flow patterns differentiate children with asthma from healthy children.
- To assess if tidal breathing analysis can detect bronchodilator reversibility in young asthmatic children.
Main Methods:
- Tidal flow-volume loops were recorded in 26 asthmatic and 26 non-asthmatic children.
- Measurements were taken before and after salbutamol inhalation.
- Key parameters analyzed included TPEF/TE, VPEF/VE, and TEF25/PEF.
Main Results:
- Asthmatic children showed significantly lower TPEF/TE and VPEF/VE ratios compared to controls.
- Salbutamol inhalation significantly improved these ratios in asthmatic children.
- Control subjects exhibited a decrease in TPEF/TE and VPEF/VE post-salbutamol.
Conclusions:
- Tidal breathing analysis is a reliable method for discriminating asthma in young children.
- This technique accurately identifies both baseline lung function differences and bronchodilator response in pediatric asthma.
Abstract:
The purpose of the present study was to investigate: 1) whether tidal flow patterns can be used to discriminate between children with asthma and those without respiratory illness; and 2) whether reversibility to salbutamol in young children can be detected by tidal breathing analysis? Lung function was measured by tidal flow-volume loops (SensorMedics 2600) in 26 awake young children (13 males) with asthma (aged 7-85 months; mean age 33 months), and 26 (13 males) (aged 3-72 months; mean age 34 months) without respiratory illness, before and 15 min after inhalation of nebulized salbutamol, 0.05 mg.kg-1. The ratios of the time and volume until peak expiratory flow to the total expiratory time and volume, respectively, (TPEF/TE and VPEF/VE), and the ratio of tidal expiratory flow at 25% remaining expiration to peak expiratory flow, TEF25/PEF, were significantly lower in asthmatic children than in controls, and increased significantly after salbutamol inhalation in the former. Conversely, TPEF/TE and VPEF/VE, but not TEF25/PEF decreased significantly in the controls after salbutamol inhalation. Respiratory rate and expiratory volume.kg-1 body weight did not differ significantly between the two groups before and after salbutamol inhalation. We conclude that tidal breathing analysis can discriminate young children with asthma from children without respiratory illness, both regarding baseline lung function and reversibility to salbutamol.