Pulmonary Function Testing in Pediatric Pneumonia Patients With Wheezing Younger Than 3 Years of Age

Abstract

Background. Wheezing symptoms are one of the risk factors in young pneumonia patients that often leads to asthma development. Infant pulmonary function test (iPFT) is potentially a useful tool to help identify and manage these high-risk pneumonia patients. Methods. To examine whether patients with wheezing symptoms are more likely to have poorer pulmonary function and treatment outcomes, and also to explore the clinical benefit of iPFT in young pneumonia patients, we conducted a retrospective analysis of 1005 pneumonia inpatients <3 years of age who had undergone iPFT testing in 2016 at Liuzhou Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital in Guang-Xi, China. Results . We identified from the hospital database 505 pneumonia patients who presented with wheezing and 500 without wheezing. Univariate analysis showed that wheezing symptoms, viral infection, age <1 year, female gender, and prematurity were significantly associated with poorer iPFT results. After adjusting for confounders, patients with wheezing showed significantly poorer pulmonary function. Patients with wheezing had longer length of stay (7.9 ± 3.9 days vs 6.5 ± 2.6 days; P < .001) and lower percent with no residual clinical symptoms at discharge (58% vs 98%; P < .001) when compared with those of non-wheezing patients. In addition, 81% of patients with viral infection as compared with 43% of patients with nonviral infection presented with wheezing symptoms ( P < .001). Conclusion. Wheezing symptoms were associated with poorer iPFT measures and treatment outcomes for pneumonia inpatients <3 years of age. Patients with wheezing had poorer treatment outcomes. iPFT can be useful in assessing and monitoring young patients with high risk of developing asthma or chronic lung disease later in life.

Therapeutic effect of budesonide, montelukast and azithromycin on post‑infectious bronchiolitis obliterans in children

“…TPTEF/TE and VPEF/VE are important parameters reflecting obstructive ventilatory disorder with a normal range of 28-55%. According to different degree of obstruction, they are divided into mild obstruction (28-23%), moderate obstruction (22-15%) and severe obstruction (<15%) (39). In the present study, the presence of moderate-to-severe airway obstruction at PIBO diagnosis was observed.…”

Pinitol attenuates LPS‐induced pneumonia in experimental animals: Possible role via inhibition of the TLR‐4 and NF‐κB/IκBα signaling cascade pathway

“…[ 31,34 ] Clinically, a pulmonary function test (PFT) has been widely implemented for the early detection and monitoring of pneumonia in patients. [ 35 ] Thus, PFT is considered an important noninvasive tool for the assessment of the functionality of the lung during pneumonia. [ 35 ] The pathogenic exposure of lung caused massive recruitment of PMNs and edema in alveolar microvasculature space, which further compromises the pulmonary gaseous exchange mechanism along with alterations in permeability and integrity of endothelial membrane that finally leads to alteration in pulmonary functions.…”

“…[ 35 ] Thus, PFT is considered an important noninvasive tool for the assessment of the functionality of the lung during pneumonia. [ 35 ] The pathogenic exposure of lung caused massive recruitment of PMNs and edema in alveolar microvasculature space, which further compromises the pulmonary gaseous exchange mechanism along with alterations in permeability and integrity of endothelial membrane that finally leads to alteration in pulmonary functions. [ 10 ] Furthermore, the researcher has reported that lung edema also significantly affects the myocardial function via alteration in myocardial calcium sensitivity.…”

Bacterial composition and colony structure of the lower respiratory tract in infants and children with recurrent wheezing: a case–control study

“…Both TPEF/TE and VPEF/VE are important parameters reflecting obstructive ventilation disorders, with a normal range of 28–55%. Depending on the degree of obstruction, it is classified as mild obstruction (23–28%), moderate obstruction (15–22%), and severe obstruction (< 15%) [ 54 ]. The pulmonary function of the children we observed with wheezing suggested a decrease in severe obstructive ventilation.…”