Wheeze and cough measurements at night in children with respiratory symptoms

Abstract

Background Nocturnal cough and wheeze are important symptoms when diagnosing any respiratory disease in a child, but objective measurements of these symptoms are not performed. Methods The aim of our study was to analyze the use of an automated detection system to assess breath sounds objectively in comparison to cough and wheeze questionnaires and to evaluate its feasibility in clinical practice. Results Forty-nine recordings of thirty-nine children were processed (asthma n = 13; cystic fibrosis n = 2; pneumonia n = 5; suspicion of habit cough n = 7; prolonged, recurrent or chronic cough n = 13), and cough and asthma scores were compared to the objective nocturnal recordings. Time for audio-validation of recordings took between 2 and 40 min (mean: 14.22 min, (SD): 10.72). Accuracy of the automated measurement was higher for cough than for wheezing sounds. Nocturnal cough readings but not wheeze readings correlated with some of the corresponding scores. Conclusion To our knowledge this is the first study using a new device to assess nocturnal cough and obstructive breath sounds objectively in children with a wide variety of respiratory diseases. The assessment proved user friendly. We obtained additional information on nighttime symptoms, which would otherwise have remained obscure. Further studies to assess possible diagnostic and therapeutic benefits of this device are needed.

Analytic Study of Cough and Wheezes in Children Attended to Al-Azhar Assuit University Hospital

“…Nine patients were not on any medication at the time of recording, according to another research. Beta2sympatiomimetica, inhaled glucocorticoids, or antibiotics had all been administered to the other subjects (20) . Just nine out of 36 patients in another research were not treated, as was demonstrated.…”

History Taking as a Diagnostic Tool in Children With Chronic Cough

“…Chronic cough in children remains a diagnostic challenge in clinical practice. Although new diagnostic tools have been introduced in the field of respiratory medicine, allowing the severity, frequency, and timing of cough to be measured objectively using automated cough measurement devices (75,76). Nevertheless, history taking remains a primary step in diagnosing children with chronic cough.…”

Validation of the LEOSound® monitor for standardized detection of wheezing and cough in children

“…The described validation process in our experience only takes a few minutes. A study published by Lindenhofer et al reported a mean duration for audio‐validation of LEOSound® recordings of 14 min 20 …”

“…The LEOSound®, a mobile device for detection, automated analysis, and software‐based classification of acoustic airway events, has been made commercially available and legally licensed for use in children (older than 24 months) 14 . While the first clinical assessments of the device were performed in adults, 15‐17 first publications exist, from our own group and others, reporting on the application of the LEOSound® in pediatric respiratory conditions 18‐20 . However, until now the formal test characteristics of the detection device and the automated classification software have not been systematically evaluated.…”