Chest
Clinical InvestigationsTechniquesCan Peak Expiratory Flow Measurements Estimate Small Airway Function in Asthmatic Children?
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
In a retrospective study, FVC maneuvers of 111 asthmatic children were extracted from the lung function results stored in the laboratory database. The patients were selected in alphabetical order, and the first 111 patients < 18 years of age who had technically acceptable flow-volume curves were included in the study. The diagnosis of asthma was made on clinical grounds by one of the pediatric pulmonologists of the Institute of Pulmonology at Hadassah University Hospital (Jerusalem, Israel). Of
Results
The correlation between individual values of FEF50 and PEF is shown in Figure 1, top. The regression equation was: FEF50 = 0.575 × PEF +10.8 (r = 0.49; p < 0.0001). A second-order regression analysis did not yield a better correlation, and we therefore limited ourselves to linear analyses. A good correlation also was found between individual values of FEV1 and PEF, with the regression equation PEF = 0.831 × FEV1 + 17.5 (r = 0.69; p < 0.0001). The best correlation was found between individual
Discussion
A significant correlation (r = 0.49; p < 0.0001) was found between FEF50 and PEF in our asthmatic children similar to that reported in a study of healthy adults.9 However, the ability of a single determination of PEF to predict FEF50 based on this correlation was found to be limited, in that FEF50(act) deviated by > 20% in 45 of the patients (40.5%) and by > 30% in 22 of the patients (19.8%). We have further shown that repeated measurements of both parameters enabled us to establish an
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2012, Journal of Allergy and Clinical ImmunologyCitation Excerpt :Baseline PEF and PEF variability have been responsive to both anti-inflammatory agents, as well as bronchodilators. As a measure of lung function, PEF values (percent personal best or percent predicted) and various measures of PEF variability show moderate correlations with other measures of airflow limitation, such as FEV1, FEF25-75, and FEF50.45,56,57 The correlation between Mini-Wright PEF and PEF using FVC maneuvers in spirometry is between 0.6 and 0.7.54
Exercise challenge test in 3- to 6-year-old asthmatic children
2007, ChestCitation Excerpt :PEFR is a common index for following changes in pulmonary function after exercise challenge in epidemiologic studies,2930 but PEFR values positive for EIA in our study were present in only 24 of the 55 children (44%). The reliability of PEFR has often been challenged as not yielding a complete picture, because it is not sufficiently sensitive in detecting small airways narrowing.31 FEV0.5 values positive for EIA were present in 26 of 30 children in group A, while it was found less frequently (8 of 25 children) in group B. Interestingly, baseline FEF25–75 values differed between subgroups, whereas values were significantly lower in group A. But, we could not establish any correlation between baseline FEF25–75 values and FEV0.5 values positive for EIA or a decrease in FEV25–75 (−31 ± 8% of baseline values).
The influence of pulmonary function testing on the management of asthma in children
2005, Journal of PediatricsCitation Excerpt :Using PEF < 80% alone to detect the presence of abnormal lung function would have caused us to miss 52% of our subjects with abnormal spirometry results. This observation supports other reports that have demonstrated that normal PEF does not rule out significant airway obstruction.18,19 In a recent study of 244 pediatric patients with all classes of asthma severity, PEF < 80% failed to identify 30% of subjects with an abnormal FEV1 or FEF25-75%.
The role of small airway function parameters in preschool asthmatic children
2023, BMC Pulmonary Medicine