Abstract
The measurement of lung function in preschool children for the diagnosis of asthma is not routinely used. The need to perform forced expiratory manoeuvres requires active cooperation and thus limits the use of spirometry in this age group. The forced oscillation technique (FOT) is a simple and noninvasive method of assessing the mechanical properties of the respiratory system during tidal breathing. It is used in young patients and requires minimal cooperation. It provides an objective assessment of the respiratory system in a group of patients in whom we have not yet had appropriate diagnostic tools. In recent years, due to the availability of new technical solutions, FOT has been increasingly used and has a chance to become a method used routinely in diagnosing and monitoring treatment in preschool children. This article presents the possibility of the clinical application of FOT in diagnosing and monitoring of early childhood asthma.
Highlights
Asthma is the most common chronic child hood disease [1]
What are the characteristics that should be met by an ideal pulmonary function test in preschool children? According to the ATS/European Respiratory Society (ERS) recommendations, this should be a method that will be used in monitoring lung function from birth up to old age, simple to perform, safe, reproducible, accepted by the patient, sensitive in recognising changes in the respiratory system occurring with age and that will allow us to distinguish between a healthy and ill person [9]
The assessment of the small airways is important in children who, despite the presence of symptoms indicating a loss of asthma control, have parameters of lung function measured by spirometry within normal values
Summary
Asthma is the most common chronic child hood disease [1]. In almost half of the patients, the first symptoms of asthma appear in childhood [2]. The FEV1 and FEV1/FVC deficits found in adolescents and young adults who had had wheezing symptoms in childhood were determined to appear when the children were approximately four years of age or even earlier, suggesting early remodelling and irreversible long-term effects on pulmonary function and growth [6,7,8]. Spirometry is the gold standard and the method of choice in the diagnosis of obstructive airway diseases It is the most commonly performed pulmonary function test in pulmonary diagnostics in adults and children > 6 years of age. The need for active and good cooperation during the test, the necessity of correct performance of the forced breathing manoeuvres, and the difficulty in meeting the criteria of acceptability and repeatability even under the modified ATS/ERS criteria cause that it has a limited application in preschool children and is not a routine diagnostic test. What are the characteristics that should be met by an ideal pulmonary function test in preschool children? According to the ATS/ERS recommendations, this should be a method that will be used in monitoring lung function from birth up to old age, simple to perform, safe, reproducible, accepted by the patient, sensitive in recognising changes in the respiratory system occurring with age and that will allow us to distinguish between a healthy and ill person [9]
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