Lung Function Tests in Preschool Children
A new study has been published in the Turkish Thoracic Journal reviewing the available techniques for the measurement of lung function in preschool children.
This study focuses on two different techniques that can be used in clinical practice, such as the interrupter technique and the forced oscillation technique. For both techniques, normal values measured in large populations of healthy children as well as cut-off values for the bronchodilator response are available. Preschoolers can also undergo other techniques such as the measurement of specific airway resistance by plethysmography or the lung clearance index using the multiple-breath washout (MBW); however, these techniques are less standardized in preschool children and difficult to use in routine clinical practice.
The study concludes that "Rint, FOT, sRaw, and MBW are easily feasible and reproducible in preschoolers. Given their role in identifying changes in airway caliber, these are potentially very useful tools in the clinical assessment of a child with respiratory disease".
The study is available free to download at the following link: click here
