Asthma, atopy and exhaled nitric oxide in a cohort of 6-yr-old New Zealand children.

Background: Exhaled nitric oxide has been promoted as a non-invasive measure of airway inflammation, with clinical utility for the diagnosis and management of asthma.

Aim: We studied associations between exhaled nitric oxide, asthma and atopy in a variety of clinically relevant phenotypes in a cohort of 6-yr-old children.

Method: Asthma was defined using standard questionnaire criteria, atopy was measured using skin prick tests (SPT) and specific IgE to common allergens, and exhaled nitric oxide was measured using a chemiluminescence analyser according to American and European Thoracic Society criteria.