Exhaled nitric oxide in pediatric asthma.
Exhaled nitric oxide can now be measured in a clinical setting as a noninvasive, reproducible, facile, point-of-service test to measure airway inflammation, a central component of asthma that had not been assessed previously. An excellent surrogate marker of steroid-responsive eosinophilic airway inflammation, it serves to identify steroid-sensitive asthmatic patients and enables clinical monitoring of the response to steroid therapy and titration of the dose. Standardization of methodology and technological advances, such as the recent availability of handheld analyzers, individualized patient cards to store serial test measurements, and the assignment of coding procedural terminology, make this a necessary adjunct to clinical and functional assessment of airway obstruction and hyperresponsiveness in ambulatory pediatric and adult asthma practices.
Dinakar
Chitra
C
Section of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, Children's Mercy Hospital and Clinics, Kansas City, MO 64108, USA. cdinakar@cmh.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D001944:Breath Tests; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D045853:Exhalation; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000032:analysis*; D055815:Young Adult
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D009569:Nitric Oxide