Airway resistance and lung function in exercise-induced asthma.
Exercise which produces crisis in some patients but not in all is a useful and informative model for the physiopathological study of bronchial asthma. We decided to carry out a study in children with bronchial asthma to evaluate bronchial spasm induced by exercise, and we used two different parameters, Raw and FEV1. The results obtained showed that the group of patients affected by bronchial asthma presented basal values of FEV1 and resistance normal for their age and size, the same as the control group. Bronchial hyperreactivity which is a fundamental element in the patient with bronchial asthma can manifest itself in the large and small airways or both. We evaluated the bronchial hyperreactivity by measuring the Raw and the FEV1 and found that Raw was a more reliable test to measure bronchial obstruction induced by exercise. For the motives reviewed in our study, we can conclude that all patients with asthma or suspected of bronchial asthma, submitted to the exercise test, should be evaluated routinely with the Raw as well as with the classic spirometric parameters.
D000293:Adolescent; D000403:Airway Resistance; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001250:Asthma, Exercise-Induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male