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JACI Highlights - December 2006
Fitzpatrick et al – Features of severe asthma in school age children: Atopy and increased exhaled nitric oxide
In the December 2006 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Fitzpatrick and colleagues attempted to identify features of severe versus mild-to-moderate asthma in school-age children using non-invasive assessments of lung function, atopy, and airway inflammation. Despite treatment with inhaled corticosteroids, children with severe asthma often have persistent symptoms; therefore, the differentiating features of severe asthma need to be defined. The authors found that when compared to children with mild-to-moderate asthma, children with severe asthma have greater airway obstruction, increased markers of allergic sensitization, increased bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine, and lung hyperexpansion. They also found that unlike adults with severe asthma, who are characterized by multiple phenotypes, children with severe asthma may be predominantly characterized by one phenotype. Future studies could focus on whether or not the phenotype changes as patients grow to adulthood.
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