08.08.13
GOSH research improves lung disease diagnosis
Better understanding of ethnic differences in lung capacity could lead to improved diagnosis, new research at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) shows.
The £1.2m study looked at 2,000 primary school pupils from four main categories of ethnicity. New lung growth charts which account for body physique will provide a “gold standard” for assessment and diagnosis of respiratory conditions, researchers said.
Funded by the Wellcome Trust, the results of the study are expected to be in regular use at the hospital within two to three years. Lung diseases are the most common cause of long-term illness in children and the research could help doctors pinpoint the effects of socio-economic background and environmental pollution on respiratory health.
The study was sponsored by Asthma UK (pilot study), the Child Growth Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, the UCL Institute of Child Health and the National Institute for Health Research, through the Comprehensive Clinical Research Network.
Prof Janet Stocks, Professor of Respiratory Physiology at the Institute for Child Health, said: “It has been known for about 150 years that there are ethnic differences in lung function, but never before has there been a multi-ethnic study of this size among primary school children to establish the true impact of these differences and how we might minimise them by taking more appropriate measurements of body physique.
“The new lung growth charts that we create will enable clinicians to assess children’s lungs more accurately, irrespective of ethnicity, and improve the diagnosis and treatment of conditions like sickle cell disease, asthma and cystic fibrosis.
“In the past, interpretation of lung function was generally based on a child’s height and gender which does not take into consideration differences like chest size. This meant that the same lung capacity would be expected for all children of the same height.
“However if Child A has longer legs and a shorter body for their total height than Child B, then Child A will have a smaller chest and smaller lung capacity, even if they are completely healthy.
“Unless body shape and size is taken into account, it could lead to misdiagnosis of lung disease. Conversely a child with lung disease who has shorter legs and a longer body for their age may appear to have normal lung function and not receive appropriate treatment.”
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