[Tracheobronchial wheezing of childhood turning into asthma?].

In order to study the allergic, immunological, functional and bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) differences between wheezy bronchitis and perennial asthma, the author studied 285 children aged 4 to 13, divided in three groups: asthma group (A.g.) 102; wheezy bronchitis (W.b.g.) 103; control group 20. The following tests were done: skin prick test (SPT) with D. pteronyssinus (DP), Total IgE, specific IgE anti-DP (RAST), functional respiratory tests (FRT) with a Jaeger whole body plethysmography, and acetylcholine challenge to test the nonspecific BHR. The results show us that there are a greater number of positive SPT and positive RAST, functional abnormalities and a higher sensitivity to acetylcholine in asthmatic children (A.g.) than in those with wheezy bronchitis (differences between the two groups are statistically significant). (table; see text) The findings indicate that it exists in w.b. children an allergo-immunological mechanism and a bronchial hyperreactivity as we observe in asthma, but in a milder degree. W.b. must be carefully watched over because an important number go on to overt asthma. In conclusion, there is a close link between wheezy bronchitis and asthma in children. Atopic w.b. should be treated as an atopic asthma.