Lung function measurements in children - copsac
Lung function measurements in children - copsac
Lung function measurements in children - copsac
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The discordant MZ tw<strong>in</strong>s <strong>in</strong> our study were born slightly earlier (mean gestational age 35.5<br />
weeks and mean birth weight 2369 grams) than the MZ tw<strong>in</strong>s <strong>in</strong> the overall tw<strong>in</strong> cohort (mean<br />
gestational age 36.1 weeks (SD 2.5) and birth weight 2498 grams (SD 549) (28). The<br />
differences were small and not significant; therefore it seems that the discordant tw<strong>in</strong>s were<br />
representative of MZ tw<strong>in</strong>s <strong>in</strong> general.<br />
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The highest <strong>in</strong>cidence of hospitalization for RSV-bronchiolitis is often reported <strong>in</strong> the 0-1-yrolds<br />
(32-35). However, the reported mean age may be biased from exclud<strong>in</strong>g older <strong>children</strong><br />
from such analyses. Fx Sigurs et al. reported mean age of RSV hospitalization to be 3.5<br />
months exclud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>fants older than 12 months (10). Fjaerli et al. reported admission age<br />
median to be 6 months <strong>in</strong> <strong>children</strong> under two years old <strong>in</strong> their study (31). One study <strong>in</strong>cluded<br />
<strong>children</strong> up to 2 years and showed the median age of hospitalization was 10 months of age<br />
similar to our f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs (36).<br />
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Most importantly, the power of our study is limited by the low number of 37 paired cases, and<br />
the 95% confidential <strong>in</strong>terval is correspond<strong>in</strong>gly wide particularly for the cl<strong>in</strong>ical end-po<strong>in</strong>t<br />
though less so for the objective surrogate markers of asthma such as lung <strong>function</strong> and F E NO.<br />
However, our study was based on the complete national database and not power calculations.<br />
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Mean age at the cl<strong>in</strong>ical exam<strong>in</strong>ation was 7.6 years. A difference <strong>in</strong> asthma prevalence later <strong>in</strong><br />
life cannot be excluded but seems low <strong>in</strong>asmuch as those studies show<strong>in</strong>g higher asthma<br />
prevalence after severe RSV found this ma<strong>in</strong>ly <strong>in</strong> early childhood (8) and most cases of<br />
asthma debut before school age.<br />
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Interpretation of the study<br />
We studied the direction of the causal relation between severe RSV bronchiolitis and asthma.<br />
RSV bronchiolitis has been associated with wheez<strong>in</strong>g, asthma and abnormal pulmonary<br />
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