Demonstration of an increased bronchial responsiveness in preschool children may support the diagnosis of asthma. Most young children cannot perform routine lung function tests. Transcutaneous PO2 (PtcO2) measurement has been applied successfully in young children, and changes in PtcO2 have been shown to correlate well with changes in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) during bronchoprovocation testing with methacholine. PtcO2 is, however, an indirect measure of the effect of inhaled spasmogens. As functional residual capacity (FRC) can also be measured by helium dilution spirometry in preschool children, we compared PtcO2 and FRC during methacholine inhalation challenges and after inhaled terbutaline, in order to determine whether FRC is useful as a more direct measure of induced bronchoconstriction and -dilatation than PtcO2. We studied 41 allergic asthmatic children (mean age, 5.2 years) who underwent a methacholine bronchoprovocation test; 38 children received terbutaline 1 h after the final methacholine dose. The provocative concentration of methacholine that caused a 20% decrease of PtcO2 was determined, and changes in FRC and PtcO2 after each methacholine dose step were compared. Similarly, changes in PtcO2 and FRC before, and 15 and 30 min after, terbutaline were compared. All children had a drop in PtcO2 after increasing doses of methacholine; a 20% change was reached in 38 patients. Mean FRC values increased significantly but variably with increasing doses of methacholine, and changes in PtcO2 and FRC did not correlate. After terbutaline, PtcO2 increased slightly but significantly, and FRC again varied unpredictably. In a separate group of 11 children, the effect of terbutaline was assessed directly after the final methacholine dose, when significant bronchoconstriction was still present.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)