The role of objective tests to support a diagnosis of asthma in children

Progress in research on induced sputum in asthma: a narrative review

OBJECTIVE

To explore the clinical significance of induced sputum in asthma through a retrospective analysis of induced sputum in patients with asthma.

DATA SOURCES

The data and references cited in this article were obtained from PubMed, Sci-Hub, and Web of Science.

STUDY SELECTION

Observational studies with reliable data were selected.

CONCLUSIONS

The cytological count, -omics, and pathogen detection of induced sputum are helpful for the clinical diagnosis of asthma and in guiding medication choices.

Current technological advancement in asthma care

INTRODUCTION

Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease affecting 262 million people globally, causing half a million deaths each year. Poor asthma outcomes are frequently due to non-adherence to medication, poor engagement with asthma services, and a lack of objective diagnostic tests. In recent years, technologies have been developed to improve diagnosis, monitoring, and care.

AREAS COVERED

Technology has impacted asthma care with the potential to improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and provide personalized management. We focus on current evidence on home diagnostics and monitoring, remote asthma reviews, and digital smart inhalers. PubMed, Ovid/Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched in November 2023 with no limit by year of publication.

EXPERT OPINION

Advanced diagnostic technologies have enabled early asthma detection and personalized treatment plans. Mobile applications and digital therapeutics empower patients to manage their condition and improve adherence to treatments. Telemedicine platforms and remote monitoring devices have the potential to streamline asthma care. AI algorithms can analyze patient data and predict exacerbations in proof-of-concept studies. Technology can potentially provide precision medicine to a wider patient group in the future, but further development is essential for implementation into routine care which in itself will be a major challenge.

Phenotypic characteristics, healthcare use, and treatment in children with night cough compared with children with wheeze

OBJECTIVES

Population-based studies of children with dry night cough alone compared with those who also wheeze are few and inconclusive. We compared how children with dry night cough differ from those who wheeze.

METHODS

LuftiBus in the school is a population-based study of schoolchildren conducted between 2013 and 2016 in Zurich, Switzerland. We divided children into four mutually exclusive groups based on reported dry night cough (henceforth referred as "cough") and wheeze and compared parent-reported symptoms, comorbidities, exposures, FeNO, spirometry, and healthcare use and treatment.

RESULTS

Among 3457 schoolchildren aged 6-17 years, 294 (9%) reported "cough," 181 (5%) reported "wheeze," 100 (3%) reported "wheeze and cough," and 2882 (83%) were "asymptomatic." Adjusting for confounders in a multinomial regression, children with "cough" reported more frequent colds, rhinitis, and snoring than "asymptomatic" children; children with "wheeze" or "wheeze and cough" more often reported hay fever, eczema, and parental histories of asthma. FeNO and spirometry were similar among "asymptomatic" and children with "cough," while children with "wheeze" or "wheeze and cough" had higher FeNO and evidence of bronchial obstruction. Children with "cough" used healthcare less often than those with "wheeze," and they attended mainly primary care. Twenty-two children (7% of those with "cough") reported a physician diagnosis of asthma and used inhalers. These had similar characteristics as children with wheeze.

CONCLUSION

Our representative population-based study confirms that children with dry night cough without wheeze clearly differed from those with wheeze. This suggests asthma is unlikely, and they should be investigated for alternative aetiologies, particularly upper airway disease.

Exhaled nitric oxide is only an asthma-relevant biomarker among children with allergic sensitization

BACKGROUND

Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is used for diagnosing and monitoring asthma in children, but the influence of allergic sensitization is still poorly understood. Here, we investigate how asthma and allergic sensitization influence FeNO levels during childhood.

METHODS

We investigated the associations between asthma, aeroallergen sensitization, and FeNO measured from age 5-18 years in the COPSAC2000 birth cohort of 411 children using repeated measurement mixed models adjusted for gestational age, sex, concurrent airway infection, inhaled corticosteroids, and tobacco exposure. Replication was sought in the similarly designed COPSAC2010 cohort of 700 children.

RESULTS

In the COPSAC2000 cohort, 133 had asthma between age 5 and 18 years, and in the COPSAC2010 cohort, 112 had asthma between age 5 and 10 years. In the COPSAC2000 cohort, asthma and aeroallergen sensitization were both associated with higher FeNO from age 5 to 18 years: adjusted geometric mean ratio (aGMR), 1.22 (1.08-1.35), p < .01, and 1.41 (1.21-1.65), p < 0.001, respectively. However, asthma was associated with increased FeNO among children with aeroallergen sensitization: 1.44 (1.23-1.69), p < .0001, whereas asthma was associated with decreased FeNO among nonsensitized children: 0.80 (0.65-0.99), p = .05 (p-interaction<.0001 for asthma x sensitization). Replication in the COPSAC2010 cohort showed similar results (p-interaction <.01). Further, blood eosinophil count, total-IgE, bronchodilator response, and bronchial hyperreactivity were all associated with increased FeNO among children sensitized to aeroallergens, but not among nonsensitized children.

CONCLUSION

Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide is elevated through childhood in children with asthma and is correlated with asthma-associated traits depending on the presence of aeroallergen sensitization. These findings indicate that FeNO is only a valid asthma biomarker in children with concurrent aeroallergen sensitization, which is important for guideline recommendations on the clinical use of FeNO.

Can the Chinese study on the normal range of FeNO in children evaluate standardized asthma treatment efficacy in 6- to 12-year-old children?

Objective

By examining fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels and performing pulmonary function testing, this study explored whether the multicenter study on the normal range of FeNO in children in China can be used to evaluate standardized treatment efficacy in 6- to 12-year-old children with asthma.

Methods

A total of 115 children aged 6-12 years old who were first diagnosed with asthma and received standardized asthma treatment from April 2018 to July 2022 were selected. According to the FeNO level at the first visit, the subjects were divided into different high- and low-FeNO groups according to the American Thoracic Society (ATS) guidelines and the Chinese multicenter study recommendations. The consistency of the two grouping methods and the differences between the high- and low-FeNO groups were compared after standardized treatment. The grouping method that was the most suitable for children in the cross group was discussed.

Results

(i) There was fair consistency between the Chinese multicenter study recommendations and the ATS guidelines regarding the classification of high- and low-FeNO groups (Kappa = 0.338). (ii) Repeated-measures ANOVA showed that the level of improvement in FVC%, FEV1%, FEF25%, FEF50%, and FeNO in the American high- and low-FeNO groups differed with the duration of therapy (P < 0.05), however, there was no significant difference between the Chinese groups. (iii) FEV1% and FeNO improved more after treatment in the fixed high-FeNO group than in the cross group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The Chinese multicenter study on the normal range of FeNO in children in China has a limited role in evaluating standardized asthma treatment efficacy in 6- to 12-year-old children. The ATS guidelines are currently recommended for clinical assessment of asthma treatment efficacy.

Objective confirmation of asthma diagnosis, treatment adherence and patient outcomes in children and adolescents

AIM

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic workup in children with asthma hypothesising that objective confirmation of the diagnosis is associated with improved treatment adherence and patient outcomes.

METHODS

We reviewed medical records of children aged 5-18 years diagnosed with asthma at the Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Herlev-Gentofte Hospital, Denmark, in 2018. Objective confirmation of the diagnosis was based on either (1) lung function, (2) bronchodilator response, (3) bronchial hyperresponsiveness and/or (4) elevated FeNO and was associated with treatment adherence (proportion of days covered, PDC), lung function development and exacerbations during a two-year follow-up period.

RESULTS

A total of 88 children were included. Asthma was objectively confirmed in 67 (76%). Children with objective confirmation of the diagnosis were more likely to redeem short-acting beta-2-agonist prescriptions: at least once, aOR = 1.3 (95% CI, 1.1-13.1), p = 0.036, and were more adherent to inhaled corticosteroid treatment: PDC>80%, aOR = 10.4 (1.8-201.1), p = 0.033. Further, objective confirmation was associated with improved lung function and reduced bronchodilator response, but not with exacerbations.

CONCLUSION

Objective confirmation of the asthma diagnosis in children is associated with an increased treatment adherence and improved lung function, which underlines the importance of conducting objective tests in the diagnostic workup in paediatric asthma management.

Precision Medicine and Childhood Asthma: A Guide for the Unwary

Many thousands of articles relating to asthma appear in medical and scientific journals each year, yet there is still no consensus as to how the condition should be defined. Some argue that the condition does not exist as an entity and that the term should be discarded. The key feature that distinguishes it from other respiratory diseases is that airway smooth muscles, which normally vary little in length, have lost their stable configuration and shorten excessively in response to a wide range of stimuli. The lungs' and airways' limited repertoire of responses results in patients with very different pathologies experiencing very similar symptoms and signs. In the absence of objective verification of airway smooth muscle (ASM) lability, over and underdiagnosis are all too common. Allergic inflammation can exacerbate symptoms but given that worldwide most asthmatics are not atopic, these are two discrete conditions. Comorbidities are common and are often responsible for symptoms attributed to asthma. Common amongst these are a chronic bacterial dysbiosis and dysfunctional breathing. For progress to be made in areas of therapy, diagnosis, monitoring and prevention, it is essential that a diagnosis of asthma is confirmed by objective tests and that all co-morbidities are accurately detailed.

Agreement of parent- and child-reported wheeze and its association with measurable asthma traits

OBJECTIVES

In epidemiological studies, childhood asthma is usually assessed with questionnaires directed at parents or children, and these may give different answers. We studied how well parents and children agreed when asked to report symptoms of wheeze and investigated whose answers were closer to measurable traits of asthma.

METHODS

LuftiBus in the school is a cross-sectional survey of respiratory health among Swiss schoolchildren aged 6-17 years. We applied questionnaires to parents and children asking about wheeze and exertional wheeze in the past year. We assessed agreement between parent-child answers with Cohen's kappa (k), and associations of answers from children and parents with fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s over forced vital capacity (FEV₁ /FVC), using quantile regression.

RESULTS

We received questionnaires from 3079 children and their parents. Agreement was poor for reported wheeze (k = 0.37) and exertional wheeze (k = 0.36). Median FeNO varied when wheeze was reported by children (19 ppb, interquartile range [IQR]: 9-44), parents (22 ppb, IQR: 12-46), both (31 ppb, IQR: 16-55), or neither (11 ppb, IQR: 7-19). Median absolute FEV₁ /FVC was the same when wheeze was reported by children (84%, IQR: 78-89) and by parents (84%, IQR: 78-89), lower when reported by both (82%, IQR: 78-87), and higher when reported by neither (87%, IQR: 82-91). For exertional wheeze findings were similar. Results did not differ by age or sex.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that surveying both parents and children and combining their responses can help us to better identify children with measurable asthma traits.

Difficult and Severe Asthma in Children

Asthma is the most frequent chronic inflammatory disease of the lower airways affecting children, and it can still be considered a challenge for pediatricians. Although most asthmatic patients are symptom-free with standard treatments, a small percentage of them suffer from uncontrolled persistent asthma. In these children, a multidisciplinary systematic assessment, including comorbidities, treatment-related issues, environmental exposures, and psychosocial factors is needed. The identification of modifiable factors is important to differentiate children with difficult asthma from those with true severe therapy-resistant asthma. Early intervention on modifiable factors for children with difficult asthma allows for better control of asthma without the need for invasive investigation and further escalation of treatment. Otherwise, addressing a correct diagnosis of true severe therapy-resistant asthma avoids diagnostic and therapeutic delays, allowing patients to benefit from using new and advanced biological therapies.

School environment associates with lung function and autonomic nervous system activity in children: a cross-sectional study

Children are in contact with local environments, which may affect respiratory symptoms and allergic sensitization. We aimed to assess the effect of the environment and the walkability surrounding schools on lung function, airway inflammation and autonomic nervous system activity. Data on 701 children from 20 primary schools were analysed. Lung function, airway inflammation and pH from exhaled breath condensate were measured. Pupillometry was performed to evaluate autonomic activity. Land use composition and walkability index were quantified within a 500 m buffer zone around schools. The proportion of effects explained by the school environment was measured by mixed-effect models. We found that green school areas tended to be associated with higher lung volumes (FVC, FEV1 and FEF25-75%) compared with built areas. FVC was significantly lower in-built than in green areas. After adjustment, the school environment explained 23%, 34% and 99.9% of the school effect on FVC, FEV1, and FEF25-75%, respectively. The walkability of school neighbourhoods was negatively associated with both pupil constriction amplitude and redilatation time, explaining -16% to 18% of parasympathetic and 8% to 29% of sympathetic activity. Our findings suggest that the environment surrounding schools has an effect on the lung function of its students. This effect may be partially mediated by the autonomic nervous system.