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Article: Exhaled nitric oxide may assess asthma best: many patients with symptoms have normal lung function tests but high levels of exhaled nitric oxide.(Clinical Rounds)
- Article from:
- Pediatric News
- Article date:
- July 1, 2005
- Author:
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2005 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SAN ANTONIO -- Exhaled nitric oxide, a marker of airway inflammation, is a much better measure of asthma than the assessment of symptoms or lung function tests, according to Joseph D. Spahn, M.D.
"Measures like symptoms and lung function lack sensitivity," he said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology.
"We need a more sensitive test of disease activity. We need to be able to pick up the disease before it has had an impact on lung function, and that's what exhaled nitric oxide measurement can do," he said.
Many patients with asthma symptoms have normal lung function tests but high levels of exhaled nitric oxide. Nitric ...