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A bronchial challenge test is a medical test used to assist in the diagnosis of asthma. [1] The patient breathes in nebulized methacholine or histamine. Thus the test may also be called a methacholine challenge test or histamine challenge test respectively. Both drugs provoke bronchoconstriction, or narrowing of the airways.
In order to listen to the lungs from the back the patient is asked to move their arms forward to prevent the scapulae (shoulder blades) from obstructing the upper lung fields. These fields are intended to correlate with the lung lobes and are thus tested on the anterior (front) and posterior (back) chest walls.
Furthermore, drugs used to treat asthma (such as inhaled glucocorticoids or leukotriene receptor antagonists) also reduce eNO levels. Clinical trials have looked at whether tailoring asthma therapy based on eNO values is better than conventional care, in which therapy is gauged by symptoms and the results of lung function tests.
Pulmonary function testing is a diagnostic and management tool used for a variety of reasons, such as: Diagnose lung disease. Monitor the effect of chronic diseases like asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, or cystic fibrosis.
A spirometer is the main piece of equipment used for basic Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs). Lung diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema may be ruled out from the tests. In addition, a spirometer often is used for finding the cause of shortness of breath, assessing the effect of contaminants on lung function, the effect of medication ...
Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), also known as bronchoalveolar washing, is a diagnostic method of the lower respiratory system in which a bronchoscope is passed through the mouth or nose into an appropriate airway in the lungs, with a measured amount of fluid introduced and then collected for examination.
Bronchitis, or an inflammation of the airwaves, can be relatively mild in a healthy person but can become much more severe in someone who is older or has existing lung problems, especially when they are unable to cough up and expel the accumulating mucus.
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness is a hallmark of asthma but also occurs frequently in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). [2] In the Lung Health Study, bronchial hyperresponsiveness was present in approximately two-thirds of patients with non-severe COPD, and this predicted lung function decline independently of other ...