Small Airway Disease in Pediatric Asthma: the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How to Remediate. A Review and Commentary

Reactance inversion in moderate to severe persistent asthma: low birth weight, prematurity effect, and bronchodilator response

INTRODUCTION

Reactance inversion (RI) has been associated with impaired peripheral airway function in persistent asthma. However, there is little to no data about the difference between asthmatic children with and without RI. This study aimed to detect clinical and lung function differences in moderate-severe asthmatic children with and without RI.

METHODS

This study was conducted between 2021 and 2022 in asthmatic school-age children. Impulse oscillometry (IOS) and spirometry were performed according to ATS/ERS standards.

RESULTS

A total of 62 patients, with a mean age of 8.4 years, 54.8% were males and were divided into three groups: group 1 (32.3%) with no RI, group 2 (27.4%) with RI but disappearing after bronchodilator test and group 3 (40.3%) with persistent RI after bronchodilator test. Children in groups 2 and 3 had significantly lower birth weights than in group 1. Group 2 had lower gestational age compared to group 1. FEV1 and FEF25-75 of forced vital capacity were significantly lower in groups 2 and 3. In group 3, R5, AX, R5-20, and R5-R20/R5 ratios were significantly higher. Bronchodilator responses (BDR) in X5c, AX, and R5-R20 were significantly different between groups and lower in group 3.

CONCLUSION

RI is frequently found in children with moderate-severe persistent asthma, particularly in those with a history of prematurity or low birth weight. In some patients, RI disappears after the bronchodilator test; however, it, persists in those with the worst pulmonary function. RI could be a small airway dysfunction marker.

Detailed characterization and impact of small airway dysfunction in school-age asthma

BACKGROUND

Small airway dysfunction (SAD) is increasingly recognized as an important feature of pediatric asthma yet typically relies on spirometry-derived FEF25-75 to detect its presence. Multiple breath washout (MBW) and oscillometry potentially offer improved sensitivity for SAD detection, but their utility in comparison to FEF25-75, and correlations with clinical outcomes remains unclear for school-age asthma. We investigated SAD occurrence using these techniques, between-test correlation and links to clinical outcomes in 57 asthmatic children aged 8-18 years.

METHODS

MBW and spirometry abnormality were defined as z-scores above/below ± 1.96, generating MBW reference equations from contemporaneous controls (n = 69). Abnormal oscillometry was defined as > 97.5th percentile, also from contemporaneous controls (n = 146). Individuals with abnormal FEF25-75, MBW, or oscillometry were considered to have SAD.

RESULTS

Using these limits of normal, SAD was present on oscillometry in 63% (resistance at 5-20 Hz; R5-R20; >97.5th percentile), on MBW in 54% (Scond; z-scores> +1.96) and in spirometry FEF25-75 in 44% of participants (z-scores< -1.96). SAD, defined by oscillometry and/or MBW abnormality, occurred in 77%. Among those with abnormal R5-R20, Scond was abnormal in 71%. Correlations indicated both R5-R20 and Scond were linked to asthma medication burden, baseline FEV1 and reversibility. Additionally, Scond correlated with FENO and magnitude of bronchial hyper-responsiveness. SAD, detected by oscillometry and/or MBW, occurred in almost 80% of school-aged asthmatic children, surpassing FEF25-75 detection rates.

CONCLUSIONS

Discordant oscillometry and MBW abnormality suggests they reflect different aspects of SAD, serving as complementary tools. Key asthma clinical features, like reversibility, had stronger correlation with MBW-derived Scond than oscillometry-derived R5-R20.

[Small airway: from definition to treatment]

The small airway, present since the origins of humanity and described barely a century ago, has recently been discovered as the anatomical site where inflammation begins in some obstructive lung diseases, such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), per se. Small airway dysfuction was identified in up to 91% of asthmatic patients and in a large proportion of COPD patients. In subjects without pathology, small airway represent 98.8% (approximately 4500 ml) of the total lung volume, contributing only between 10-25% of the total lung resistance; however, in subjects with obstruction, it can represent up to 90% of the total resistance. Despite this, its morphological and functional characteristics allow its dysfunction to remain undetected by conventional diagnostic methods, such as spirometry. Hence the importance of this review, which offers an overview of the tools available to assess small airway dysfunction and the possible therapies that act in this silent zone.

Anatomical and histopathological approaches to asthma phenotyping

Asthma is typically characterized by variable respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. Along with the pathophysiology and symptoms are immunological and inflammatory processes. The last decades research has revealed that the immunology of asthma is highly heterogeneous. This has clinical consequences and identification of immunological phenotypes is currently used to guide biological treatment. The focus of this review is on another dimension of asthma diversity, namely anatomical heterogeneity. Immunopathological alterations may go beyond the central airways to also involve the distal airways, the alveolar parenchyma, and pulmonary vessels. Also, extrapulmonary tissues are affected. The anatomical distribution of inflammation in asthma has remained relatively poorly discussed despite its potential implication on both clinical presentation and response to treatment. There is today evidence that a significant proportion of the asthma patients has small airway disease with type 2 immunity, eosinophilia and smooth muscle infiltration of mast cells. The small airways in asthma are also subjected to remodelling, constriction, and luminal plugging, events that are likely to contribute to the elevated distal airway resistance seen in some patients. In cases when the inflammation extends into the alveolar parenchyma alveolar FCER1-high mast cells, eosinophilia, type 2 immunity and activated alveolar macrophages, together with modest interstitial remodelling, create a complex immunopathological picture. Importantly, the distal lung inflammation in asthma can be pharmacologically targeted by use of inhalers with more distal drug deposition. Biological treatments, which are readily distributed to the distal lung, may also be beneficial in eligible patients with more severe and anatomically widespread disease.

An a Priori Approach to Small Airway Dysfunction in Pediatric Asthmatics

Small airway dysfunction remains a stepchild in the pediatric asthma care pathway. In brief, elements of the pulmonary function test (PFT) concerning smaller airway data remain less utilized. To further the value of the standard PFT we underwent a prospective Proof of Concept (POC) project, utilizing the outpatient performance of PFT tests in children 6–18 years during a 15-month period. The goal of the study was to determine if a priori the PFT represented a small airway disease pattern or not. Only the pulmonary function was used to make that distinction. Children 6–18 years with asthma who completed a PFT had their PFT as being characterized with or without a small airway dysfunction (SAD) designation, coded in the electronic medical record as an a priori decision using the code J98.4 (other disorders of lung) as a marker for electronic medical records retrieval. Subsequently, the results were analyzed between a group of 136 children designated (a priori) as having no small airway dysfunction in comparison to 91 children a priori designated as having small airway dysfunction. The a priori designation groups were post hoc compared for large and smaller airway function differences. Both large and smaller airway dysfunction were highly significantly different between the 2 groups, based solely on the initial division of the total group based on the decision the PFT represented a small airway pattern. We concluded the baseline pulmonary function test used in the evaluation of pediatric asthma has readily identifiable information regarding the presence of small airway dysfunction, and we characterized what was unique on the PFT based on that SAD classification

A positive effect of a short period stay in Alpine environment on lung function in asthmatic children

Lung function is a central issue in diagnosis and determination of asthma severity and asthma control has been previously reported to improve after a stay in mountain environment for at least 2 weeks. No data are available for shorter periods of stay, in particular for small airways during a stay at altitude. The aim of this study is to focus on changes in respiratory function, regarding both the central airways and the peripheral airways in the first 2 weeks of stay in a mountain environment in asthmatic children. In this study, 66 asthmatic children (age: 14 ± 2.8 years) were evaluated through spirometric and oscillometric tests at the time of arrival at the Istituto Pio XII, Misurina (BL), Italy, 1756 m above sea level (T0), after 24 h (T1), and 168 h (T2) of stay. FEV1%, FEF25%-75%, and FEV1/FVC increased significantly from T0 value both at T1 and T2 (respectively, p = 0.0002, p < 0.0001, p = 0.0002). Oscillometry showed a significant improvement in R5, R20, and R5-20 at both T1 and T2 as compared to T0 (respectively, p = 0.0001, p = 0.0002, and p = 0.049). Reactance at 5 Hz (X5) improved significantly at T2 versus T0, p = 0.0022. The area under reactance curve between Fres and 5 Hz (AX) was significantly reduced (p = 0.0001) both at T1 and T2 as compared to T0. This study shows an improvement in respiratory indices as soon as after 24 h of stay at altitude, persisting in the following week.

Poor Asthma Control in Schoolchildren May Lead to Lower Lung Function Trajectory from Childhood to Early Adulthood: A Japanese Cohort Study

Purpose

Although childhood asthma is a risk factor for adult lung function disorders, the correlation between childhood asthma control level and lung function growth remains unclear in Japan. The correlation between childhood asthma control and early adulthood lung function growth was investigated in this study.

Patients and Methods

We included 505 children with asthma from the Omuta City Air Pollution-Related Health Damage Cohort Program. The characteristics and lung function of girls and boys aged 6–11 years and 12–17 years were compared between poor and good asthma control groups.

Results

Among the 505 children, 214 (42.4%) showed poor asthma control. The mean percentage forced expiratory volume in 1 second predicted for girls and boys aged 6–11 years (80.2% and 79.2%, respectively) and 12–17 years (80.0% and 81.1%, respectively) in the poor control group was significantly lower than those of girls and boys aged 6–11 years (87.9% and 87.3%, respectively) and 12–17 years (88.1% and 87.8%, respectively) in the good control group. However, a linear regression model did not reveal between-group differences in the slopes of lung function growth for both sexes. Girls (24.6%, P < 0.0001) and boys (24.4%, P = 0.0026) in the poor control group had a significantly higher proportion of young adults with obstructive ventilatory patterns than girls (1.4%) and boys (8.1%) in the good control group.

Conclusion

Our findings revealed that poor childhood asthma control leaded to lung function disorders, which suggest the importance of early asthma control in school children.

Prognosis of bronchial asthma in children with different pulmonary function phenotypes: A real-world retrospective observational study

OBJECTIVE

To follow up on the changes in pulmonary function phenotypes in children with asthma in the first year after diagnosis, and explore the risk factors of poor control in children with good treatment compliance.

METHODS

Children who were diagnosed with asthma in the Respiratory Department of Shanghai Children's Medical Center from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020 and were re-examined every 3 months after diagnosis for 1 year were continuously included, regardless of gender. We collected the clinical data, analyzed clinical characteristics of the different pulmonary function phenotypes at baseline and explored risk factors of poor asthma control after 1 year of standardized treatment.

RESULTS

A total of 142 children with asthma were included in this study, including 54 (38.0%) with normal pulmonary function phenotype (NPF), 75 (52.8%) with ventilation dysfunction phenotype (VD), and 13 (9.2%) with small airway dysfunction phenotype (SAD) in the baseline. Among them, there were statistically significant differences in all spirometry parameters, age, and course of disease before diagnosis (P < 0.05), and a negative correlation between age (r ² = -0.33, P < 0.001), course of disease before diagnosis (r ² = -0.23, P = 0.006) and FEV₁/FVC. After 1-year follow-up, large airway function parameters and small airway function parameters were increased, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) was decreased, the proportion of NPF was increased, the proportion of VD was decreased (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in the proportion of SAD. After 1 year of standardized treatment, 21 patients (14.8%) still had partly controlled or uncontrolled asthma. Our results showed that the more asthma attacks occurred within 1 year (OR = 6.249, 95% CI, 1.711-22.818, P = 0.006), the more times SAD presented at baseline and Assessment 1-4 (OR = 3.092, 95% CI, 1.222-7.825, P = 0.017), the higher the possibility of incomplete control of asthma.

CONCLUSION

About 15% of the children with good treatment compliance were still not completely controlled after 1 year of treatment, which is closely associated with persistent small airway dysfunction.

Small Airway Dysfunction Measured by Impulse Oscillometry and Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide Is Associated With Asthma Control in Children

BACKGROUND

Impulse oscillometry (IOS) and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) are sensitive and non-invasive methods to measure airway resistance and inflammation, although there are limited population-based studies using IOS and FeNO to predict asthma control.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the utility of IOS and FeNO for assessing childhood asthma control in terms of small airway dysfunction and airway inflammation.

METHODS

This prospective observational cohort study enrolled 5,018 school children (aged 6-12 years), including 560 asthmatic children and 140 normal participants. FeNO, spirometry, IOS, bronchial dilation test, total IgE, and childhood asthma control test (C-ACT) were measured. FeNO, IOS, spirometry, and C-ACT results were correlated with childhood asthma with and without control.

RESULTS

Uncontrolled asthmatic children had abnormal FeNO, IOS, and spirometric values compared with control subjects (P < 0.05). IOS parameters with R5, R5-R20, X5, Ax, △R5, and FeNO can predict lower C-ACT scales by the areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) (0.616, 0.625, 0.609, 0.622, 0.625, and 0.714). A combination of FeNO (>20 ppb) with IOS measure significantly increased the specificity for predicting uncontrolled asthma patients compared with FeNO alone (P < 0.01). A multiple regression model showed that small airway parameter (R5-R20) was the strongest risk factor [OR (95% CI): 87.26 (7.67-993.31)] for uncontrolled asthma patients. Poor control with lower C-ACT scales correlated with high FeNO (r = -0.394), R5 (r = -0.106), and R5-R20 (r = -0.129) in asthmatic children (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

A combined use of FeNO and IOS measurements strongly predicts childhood asthma with or without control.

A compendium and review of pediatric pulmonary function testing assessment opportunities for asthma

OBJECTIVE

Standard spirograms are widely used in the respiratory disease management community to help diagnosis asthma and provide longitudinal information. Surprisingly, basic information obtained on the spirogram, beyond the FEV₁ and change in FEV₁ after bronchodilator is underutilized. We reviewed information on pulmonary function and bronchodilator response in children since 2016. We present here a discussion of other element of the standard spirogram that can be used for pediatric asthma management.Methods: Medline search of pulmonary function, children, adolescents, bronchodilator reversibility, small airway disease, small airway function, asthma, airflow limitation, bronchodilator response. Studies since 2016 that provide information on normal or asthmatic children bronchodilator response, and/or small airway or pulmonary function values after albuterol.

RESULTS

Limited data has been published on FEV₁ bronchodilator response in children since 2016. Other parameters of the pulmonary function test in children have had recent documentation.

CONCLUSIONS

New data on FEV₁ bronchodilator response in normal children is limited since 2016. However, other details of pulmonary function interpretation in asthmatic children has had considerable attention, and are reviewed here.