Chest ACCP Member Benefits
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password
First published online on September 21, 2007
Chest, doi:10.1378/chest.07-1025
doi:10.1378/chest.07-1025
(Chest. 2007; 132:1520-1525)
© 2007 American College of Chest Physicians
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
chest.07-1025v1
132/5/1520    most recent
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Article Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bodini, A.
Right arrow Articles by Piacentini, G. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bodini, A.
Right arrow Articles by Piacentini, G. L.

Exhaled Nitric Oxide Daily Evaluation Is Effective in Monitoring Exposure to Relevant Allergens in Asthmatic Children*

Alessandro Bodini, MD; Diego Peroni, MD; Attilio Loiacono, MD; Silvia Costella, PhD; Roberta Pigozzi, PhD; Eugenio Baraldi, MD; Attilio L. Boner, MD and Giorgio L. Piacentini, MD

* From the Clinica Pediatrica Università di Verona (Drs. Bodini, Peroni, Pigozzi, Boner, and Piacentini), Verona, Italy; Istituto Pio XII (Drs. Loiacono and Costella), Misurina (BL), Italy; and the Dipartimento di Pediatria (Dr. Baraldi), Università di Padova, Padova, Italy.

Correspondence to: Giorgio L. Piacentini, MD, Dipartimento di Pediatria, Policlinico G.B. Rossi, 37134 Verona, Italy; e-mail: giorgio.piacentini{at}univr.it

Abstract

Background: Though asthma is an airway inflammatory disease, the assessment of treatment efficacy is mainly based on symptom monitoring and the evaluation of lung function parameters. This study was aimed to evaluate the feasibility of exhaled nitric oxide monitoring in allergic asthmatic children who were exposed to relevant allergens in their homes.

Methods: Twenty-two children allergic to mites underwent twice-daily fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) therapy using a portable device (NIOX MINO; Aerocrine AB; Stockholm, Sweden) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) measurements before, during, and after periods of natural exposure to mite allergens. The children were admitted to the study if they had lived in a mite-free environment for 3 months. They were observed in this environment for 10 days and then were moved to a site with natural mite exposure at sea level for 19 days. Finally, they were relocated to the mite-free environment for a period of 6 days for follow-up measurements.

Results: Significant differences were seen between the mite-free baseline FeNO level (26.4 parts per billion [ppb]; range, 19.3 to 36.2 ppb) and FeNO levels measured during natural mite exposure (37.3 ppb; 27.3 to 51 ppb) and after natural mite exposure (34.9 natural mite exposure; 25.2 to 48.2 ppb). Six children reported asthma symptoms during the mite exposure, and an increase in FeNO was observed in each case (p < 0.031); PEF values showed no significant differences, whether between the different environments or between different periods.

Conclusions: These data give further evidence for a possible role of frequent determinations of FeNO in order to promptly assess changes in the level of airway inflammation in asthmatic children.

Key Words: allergen exposure • asthma • FeNO






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2007 by the American College of Chest Physicians.