Abstract
Asthma is characterized by airway inflammation, airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) and variable air flow obstruction. The diagnosis of asthma, however, is often based upon nonspecific clinical symptoms of cough, wheeze, and shortness of breath. Furthermore, the physical examination and measurements of pulmonary function are often unremarkable in patients with asthma, thereby complicating the diagnosis of the disease. The following discussion will review approaches to the diagnosis of asthma when lung functions are normal, and will largely focus on the use of bronchial provocation tests to detect underlying AHR.
Footnotes
Dr Busse presented a version of this paper at the 48th Respiratory Care Journal Conference, “Pulmonary Function Testing,” held March 25–27, 2011, in Tampa, Florida.
Dr Busse has disclosed relationships with Centocor, Merck, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, TEVA, GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Pfizer, Medimmune, Genetech, Ception, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
↵* Kenneth W Rundell PhD, Pharmaxis, Exton, Pennsylvania.
- Copyright © 2010 by Daedalus Enterprises Inc.