Clinical Inquiry. How best to diagnose asthma in infants and toddlers?

J Fam Pract. 2011 Mar;60(3):152-4.

Abstract

No reliable way exists to diagnose asthma in infants and toddlers. Recurrent wheezing, especially apart from colds, combined with physician-diagnosed eczema or atopic dermatitis, eosinophilia, and a parental history of asthma, increase the probability of a subsequent asthma diagnosis in the absence of other causes (strength of recommendation: B, 2 good-quality cohort studies).

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Asthma / diagnosis*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Practice Guidelines as Topic
  • Respiratory Sounds / etiology