Search

Objective: Asthma is the most common chronic lung disease in childhood. Difficult-to-treat asthma is defined as the continuation of symptoms or attacks of patients despite step 4 or 5 of Global Initiative for Asthma therapy. In the differential diagnosis of these patients, flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy is recommended to exclude other lung diseases. In this study, we aimed to examine the clinical and radiologic features and flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy findings of patients referred to our pediatric pulmonology department due to difficult-to-treat asthma and determine the effects of flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy on the differential diagnosis and treatment. Materials and Methods: The demographic characteristics and flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy results of 62 patients who were diagnosed as having difficult-to-treat asthma in our pediatric pulmonology department between January 2015 and June 2020 were evaluated retrospectively. The symptoms, history, medications, physical examination findings, pulmonary function tests, and radiologic findings of patients who underwent flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy were evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Recurrent wheezing is a common problem in preschool children. It is classified into two groups because there can be many reasons for wheeze: typical and atypical. The aim of this study was to identify the general features of atypical wheezy children. Material and Methods: Three hundred two children who presented to our clinic between 2000 and 2015 for three or more wheezing attacks and were diagnosed as having an underlying disease such as bronchiectasis, foreign body aspiration, recurrent aspiration pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, congenital anomalies, and tuberculosis, were included in the study. Results: In this study, 127 (42.1%) girls and 175 (57.9%) boys were evaluated. The diagnostic distribution of the patients was as follows: bronchopulmonary dysplasia (21.9%), bronchiolitis obliterans (16.6%), bronchiectasis (14.5%), bronchiolitis obliterans + primary immunodeficiency (12.3%), cystic fibrosis (10.3%), bronchiectasis + primary immunodeficiency (7.9%), recurrent aspiration pneumonia (3.6%) and foreign body aspiration (3.3%), and other diseases (9.6%). Mosaic oligemia, bronchiectasis, atelectasis, bronchiolectasis, and small airway disease were the most distinct findings on high-resolution lung tomography. When the patients were evaluated clinically, radiologically, and according to pulmonary functions after an average period of 40 months, it was seen that 9.2% deteriorated, 33.9% regressed, and 56.7% remained stable. Presentation to hospital after the first attack occurred earlier in patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, bronchiolitis obliterans and bronchiolitis obliterans + primary immunodeficiency compared with patients with bronchiectasis, bronchiectasis + primary immunodeficiency, and cystic fibrosis. When presentation time and outcomes were evaluated, it was found that 63.4% of patients who presented to hospital early (0-6 months) and 7.5% of patients who presented late (after 5 years) had regression. Conclusion: Recurrent wheezy children must be promptly evaluated for an underlying disease. Early diagnosis and treatment influence the prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses case study of a 5-month-old boy presented to the emergency department with cough and dyspnea, and was diagnosed with bridging bronchus with left pulmonary artery sling and stenosis of the right upper lobe bronchus. It has been stated that chest radiography is vital in identification of the cause of the first episode of wheezing in young infants.