Abstract
The relationship between recurrent wheeze in infants and asthma in childhood still remains unclear. Since bronchial reactivity plays a central role in asthma the aim of this study was to measure bronchial responsiveness in infants suffering from either recurrent wheeze or after an isolated upper respiratory tract infection URTI). Bronchial inhalation challenge tests with carbachol were performed in 25 infants aged 6-24 months, 16 with recurrent wheezing and 9 URTI without wheezing. A control solution and varying concentrations of carbachol were administered by face mask from a nebuliser. Before and after each nebulisation airway resistance (Raw) and thoracic gas volume (TGV) were measured in constant-volume plethysmograph. Specific airway resistance (SRaw) was derived. The cumulative dose of carbachol causing 50 % increase of SRaw was calculated (PD50 SRaw). Wheezy infants were slightly hyperinflated ( mean TGV predicted) compared with non-wheezing group (mean TGV 98 % predicted). There was a significant difference in PD50 SRaw between wheezy infants and URTI group (t-test on logarythmic transformations of PD50 SRaw; t=4.12; p <0.001). We have described a new technique for measuring bronchial responsiveness in infants and shown that wheezy infants had greater responsiveness than a control group.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gutkowski, P., Migdal, M., Nowacka, K. et al. BRONCHIAL RESPONSIVENESS IN WHEEZY INFANTS. Pediatr Res 19, 1095 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198510000-00154
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198510000-00154