Paediatria Croatica, Vol. 61 No. 4, 2017.
Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.13112/PC.2017.23
Approaching a preschool child with recurrent asthma – when to set the diagnosis of asthma and how to treat the patient?
Iva Mihatov Štefanović
; KBC Sestre milosrdnice
Renata Vrsalović
Biserka Čičak
Tatjana Lesar
Rebeka Ribičić
Abstract
Asthma is one of the most common respiratory symptoms in preschool children. In most cases, asthma is exclusively associated with
viral infections of the upper airways and resolves with time; however, one-third of children with recurrent asthma are diagnosed with
asthma when they reach school age. According to professional society guidelines, recurrent asthma in preschool children is generally
classifi ed into phenotypes, depending on the frequency of symptoms and their association with particular triggers. Infl ammatory
pathogenesis of asthma phenotypes in preschool children has not yet been established; however, various infl ammatory mechanisms
are likely to be involved. The majority of preschool children with recurrent asthma can only be treated with bronchodilators.
According to the European Respiratory Society guidelines, anti-infl ammatory therapy should be introduced in patients with frequent
symptoms and severe clinical picture. Measuring objective parameters such as pulmonary function and airway hyperreactivity is
quite diffi cult due to patient noncompliance, thus therapy initiation and good clinical response probably provide the most reliable
basis for diagnosing asthma. For now, there are no treatment strategies to modify the course of the disease and prevent development
of persistent asthma.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
201173
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2017.
Visits: 1.336 *