Clinical Features of Asthma in Children Flashcards
What are the challenges with diagnosing asthma?
No definition No tests Two national guidelines Symptom based Identical to LRTI symptoms Relapse and remission
What are the characteristics of asthma?
Literally “panting” Chronic Wheeze, cough and SOB Multiple triggers Variable/reversible Responds to asthma Rx
What is the definitions of asthma?
Episodic wheeze and/or cough in a clinical setting where asthma is likely and other rarer conditions have been excluded
NO LONGER A DIAGNOSIS OF EXCLUSIVE
What are the 3 key aspects of asthma?
Wheeze
Variability
Respond to treatment
What are the variations in asthma?
“Transient” vs persistent VIW versus asthma/MTW Different severities Different age at onset Heterogeneity in response Different triggers
What are the 5 pathways to asthma?
1) Infant onset
2) Childhood onset
3) Adult onset
4) Exertional asthma
5) Occupational asthma
What causes asthma?
1) Genes
- 30-80% of causation
- ~10 variants making modest contribution
- ADAM33, ORMDL3
- Interact with environment
- Epigenetics
2)Allergy
What is the allergy sequence?
There is an issue with epithelium
Allergies sensitisation
Symptoms fuled (skin, lung or gut)
What are highly likely and unproven reasons for the rise in asthma?
Highly likely: Diagnostic enthusiasm! Increasing recognition True rise Westernisation
Not proven:
Hygiene hypothesis
Dietary hypothesis
2 RCTs discovered risks factors for asthma in children of affected adults. What are these factors?
PREVENTATIVE MEASURES
Feeding
- Breast
- Late weaning
Allergen
-Ante- and post-natal
Smoking
Is examination important in diagnosing asthma?
No
Unlikely to be wheezing
Stethoscope never important (often unhelpful)
Is there a diagnostic test for asthma in children?
No Peak flow = random number generator Allergy tests irrelevant Spirometry lacks specificity Exhaled nitric oxide unproven
Tests can be useful (excluding > diagnosing)
What is spirometry?
Measures how much air a person breathes out, and how quickly
What is exhaled nitric oxide testing?
It measures the amount of nitric oxide that is exhaled from a breath
Increased levels of nitric oxide are associated with swelling of lung airways.
What is the order of testing in asthma diagnosis in NICE?
1) Spirometry
2) BDR - bronchodilator reversibility
3) FeNO - fractional exhaled NO (35 ppb or more)
4) Peak flow
ASTHMA DIAGNOSIS