title: Early bronchial involvement in children with allergic rhinitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Allergic rhinitis (AR) may be frequently associated with asthma or precede it. Bronchial involvement in AR is usually detected by spirometry. Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) is considered a reliable parameter for asthma diagnosis. However, forced expiratory flow at 25-75% (FEF(25-75)) could be considered a possible marker of early bronchial involvement in AR; indeed, it has been proposed that FEF(25-75) values <70% of predicted may predict this evolution. The aim of this study was to evaluate a large cohort of children with AR to define an FEV(1) value corresponding to impaired FEF(25-75) values.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight hundred fifty AR children (555 boys; median age, 10 years) were studied. Spirometry and skin-prick test were performed in all of them. Descriptive statistic and multivariate analysis were considered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three-hundred (35.3%) patients had FEF(25-75) values <70% of predicted. Still, normal FEV(1) values were associated with overt impaired FEF(25-75) values and the cutoff value was 83%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spirometry should be adequately interpreted in AR patients; indeed, an FEV(1) cutoff value of 83% detects with good efficiency AR children with early bronchial impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy. gio.cip@libero.it
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciprandi
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Capasso
authors.forename: Maria Angela
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tosca
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001980:Bronchi / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013147:Spirometry; D014797:Vital Capacity