Abstract
Introduction: Wheezing episodes are common in infants, younger, and older children which are most commonly caused by asthma or viral bronchiolitis.
Objectives: This study aims to determine the possible correlation between blood eosinophil count and responsiveness to bronchodilators in pediatric patients admitted for wheezing episodes.
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 98 patients aged between one month to 12 years (a mean of 2.53 ± 1.12 years) that were admitted because of wheezing at two university hospitals of Jundishapur university of medical sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. The severity of wheezing was defined according to the Preschool Respiratory Assessment Measure (PRAM) classification. The peripheral blood eosinophil count was checked as part of the complete blood count (CBC) in all patients before treatment initiation. Then, the peripheral blood eosinophil count was compared between the two groups of patients based on showing significant or no significant response to bronchodilator treatment.
Results: Of 98 patients, 11 (11.2%) had mild wheezing, 70 (71.4%) had moderate wheezing and 17 (17.3%) had severe wheezing. Significant response to bronchodilator therapy (PRAM reduction) was observed in 68 patients (69.4%) and 30 patients (30.6%) had a partial response to treatment. There was been no statistically significant correlation between the peripheral blood eosinophil count and response to bronchodilator therapy (P=0.963). There was also no significant correlation between the peripheral blood eosinophil count and wheezing severity (P=0.203).
Conclusion: Our study revealed no correlation between the peripheral blood eosinophil count and the response to bronchodilators in pediatric patients presenting with wheezing attacks. We concluded that the peripheral blood eosinophil count could not be employed as a marker to predict the response to bronchodilator therapy in pediatric patients presenting with wheezing episodes at emergency departments.