OBJECTIVETo investigate the characteristics of pulmonary function in children with atypical asthma with chest tightness as the chief complaint before and after a bronchial provocation test.

METHODSThis study included 34 children with atypical asthmas who underwent bronchial provocation test between January 2010 and December 2013. Thirty-four children with typical asthmas were selected as the control group. The pulmonary function of the atypical asthma group was examined before and after the bronchial provocation test and compared with that of the control group in the acute episode and remission stages.

RESULTSThe forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow, forced expiratory flow 25%, 50%, 75% (FEF25, FEF50, FEF75), and maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF75/25) in the atypical asthma group before the bronchial provocation test were (105±12)%, (104±12)%, (100±7)%, (88±13)%, (90±14)%, (81±17)%, (73±25)%, and (80±17)%, respectively; these functional indices were significantly higher than in the control group in the acute episode stage (P<0.05), but were similar to those of the control group in the remission stage (P>0.05). In addition, no significant difference in pulmonary indices was observed between the atypical asthma group after the bronchial provocation test and the control group in the acute episode stage (P>0.05), but functional indices above were significantly lower in the atypical asthma group after the bronchial provocation test than in the control group in the remission stage and the atypical asthma group before the bronchial provocation test (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSBronchial provocation test is useful in the diagnosis of atypical asthma in children.