04/17/2002
By Robert Short
Methacholine airway responsiveness and the sputum differential eosinophil count have been shown to be the most useful objective tests in patients with mild asthma.
This was the conclusion of a study designed to compare the sensitivity and specificity of different tests used in the diagnosis of asthma. In this a single-centre, cross-sectional, observational study, investigators examined 69 patients with asthma, 20 patients with pseudoasthma, and 21 healthy control subjects. Testing involved using methacholine airway responsiveness; maximum within-day peak expiratory flow amplitude; FEV1/FVC ratio; percentage change in FEV1 10 min after the administration of 200µg inhaled albuterol; and the differential eosinophil count in blood and induced sputum.
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