Wheezing disorders in preschool children: an evidence - based approach

Abstract

Approximately one in three children have at least one episode of wheezing before their third birthday, and almost 50% of children wheeze at the age of 6 yrs. Most often wheeze in preschool children is associated with viral upper respiratory tract infections, which recur frequently in this age group. Recurrent wheeze is a very common clinical problem facing practitioners throughout the world. Wheeze is defined as a continuous high-pitched sound with musical quality emitting from the chest during expiration. It is one of a number of forms of noisy breathing in preschool children. Sinze wheeze is the end result of narrowing of intrathoracic airways and expiratory flow limitation, irrespective of the underlying mechanism, there are numerous reasons for a child to wheeze, including anatomical abnormalities of the airways, cystic fibrosis and bronchomalacia. The differential diagnosis of wheeze in preschool children should be discussed in details. [...].