title: Wheezing exacerbations in early childhood: evaluation, treatment, and recent advances relevant to the genesis of asthma.
abstract: Children who begin wheezing during early childhood are frequently seen by health care providers in primary care, in hospitals, and in emergency departments, and by allergists and pulmonologists. When a young child, such as the 2 year-old patient presented here, is evaluated for wheezing, a frequent challenge for clinicians is to determine whether the symptoms represent transient, viral-induced wheezing or whether sufficient risk factors are present to suspect that the child may experience recurrent wheezing and develop asthma. Most factors that influence prognosis are not mutually exclusive, are interrelated (ie, cofactors), and often represent gene-environment interactions. Many of these risk factors have been, and continue to be, investigated in prospective studies to decipher their relative importance with the goal of developing new therapies and interventions in the future. The etiologies of wheezing in young children, diagnostic methods, treatment, prognostic factors, and potential targets for prevention of the development of asthma are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn. Electronic address: eva.k.miller@Vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: E Kathryn
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy-Immunology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill.
authors.forename: Pedro C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Avila
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn.
authors.forename: Yasmin W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Allergy and Pulmonary, Department of Pediatrics, Asthma and Allergic Disease Center and Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
authors.forename: Carolyn R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Word
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy-Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill.
authors.forename: Barry J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Pelz
authors.affiliation: Centre for Paediatrics and Child Health, Institute of Human Development, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom; Allergy Department, Second Pediatric Clinic, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn.
authors.forename: R Stokes
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Peebles
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Allergy and Pulmonary, Department of Pediatrics, Asthma and Allergic Disease Center and Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Heymann
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000209:etiology
keywords: Asthma; Childhood; Virus; Wheezing