%0 Journal Article
%T To Evaluate Serum Eosinophil Cationic Protein and Total IgE Concomitantly May Predict the Persistence of Wheezing in Young Children
%A Eseng¨¹l Kele£¿
%A Hamza Yazgan
%A Arzu Gebe£¿£¿e
%J ISRN Pediatrics
%D 2012
%R 10.5402/2012/168379
%X Background. We investigated the predictive value and the relative risk of the evaluation of serum eosinophilic cationic protein (sECP) and total IgE levels concomitantly in relation to the persistence of wheezing in young children. Methods. The study was conducted prospectively between January 2007 and December 2010. A hundred and eight children, aged between three months and four years, with three or more episodes of wheezing, were studied to evaluate the role of eosinophil inflammation and its relation to persistence of wheezing two years later. Results. A statistically significant difference in terms of total IgE and sECP values was observed between the groups ( ). When measurement of IgE and sECP was assessed concomitantly, the sensitivity was found to be 92.68%, the negative predictive value was found to be 71.43%, accuracy rate was found to be 84.26%, and the relative risk was found to be 3.06 in group 1. Conclusions. In this study, we aimed to emphasize the importance of the assessment of sECP and total IgE concomitantly, as being two noninvasive and easily applicable tests, useful in predicting persistent wheezing in early childhood. 1. Introduction Wheezing is a musical sound frequently heard during expiration. It is heard in the form of a prolonged whistle and occurs mostly together with diseases that constrict the lower respiratory tract and rarely the upper respiratory tract. Wheezing is a frequent complaint among patients seeking admission to hospital. It often occurs in early childhood, although it may be observed in people of all ages. Chronic or recurrent wheezing may be caused by several etiological factors. It is a controversial topic as to whether or not children who wheeze in their early childhood will also develop asthma in the future. Asthma generally starts during the first years of life. However, young wheezing children are a heterogeneous group. About 60% of early wheezers suffer transitory disease and become asymptomatic when they reach 5-6 years of age, with only 40% continuing with asthma at this age. Identifying infants who will go on to develop persistent wheezing and determining whether inhaled anti-inflammatory drugs, or other treatments, can block the processes leading to chronic asthma are important challenges in the prevention of this common disease. Conventional modalities remain incapable of diagnosing and following up people with asthma. Respiratory function tests and prick tests, which are commonly used to establish clinical diagnoses, exhibit some difficulties when applied to young children. Therefore, assessments
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.pediatrics/2012/168379/