Transient early wheeze is not associated with impaired lung function in 7-yr-old children.

The aim of the present study was to analyse determinants of lung function in 7-yr-old children with different wheezing patterns (early, persistent and late onset) in a prospective cohort study. The German Multicentre Allergy Study (MAS) followed 1,314 children from birth onwards. Annual assessments included clinical check-ups, a structured interview and repeated measurement of specific immunoglobulins Ig(E) directed against food and inhalant allergens.

Histamine challenges discriminate between symptomatic and asymptomatic children. MAS-Study Group. Multicentre Allergy Study.

The aims of this study were to investigate a threshold value for bronchial responsiveness in children aged 7 yrs, which discriminates between symptomatic and asymptomatic children, and to identify determinants of this responsiveness. Titrated bronchial histamine challenges using the reservoir method were performed in 645 children aged 7 yrs, from the birth cohort Multicentre Allergy Study (MAS). When defining a reference population of healthy children within the MAS cohort, the 95th percentile of the provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in forced expired volume in one second PC20 among these asymptomatic study subjects amounted to 0.