Expiratory variability index (EVI) is associated with the severity of acute bronchial obstruction in small children

Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (PAI), 2020

Authors: Ville Pekka Seppä, Mirjana Turkalj, Anton Hult, Ivana Malo?a Vuljanko, Davor Plavec, Damir Erceg, Giorgie Petkovi?

Lung function testing in small children is cumbersome. However, reduced variability of tidal breathing recorded using impedance pneumography (IP) during sleep was recently found to be a potential objective marker of wheeze in children aged 1-5 years. We aimed to investigate how an acute bronchial obstruction (BO) and its severity, and recovery thereof reflect in expiratory variability index (EVI).

EVI was found to be a sensitive, objective marker of acute BO, showing strong association with changes in clinical status in wheezy children aged 1-5 years.

EVI values from controls and patients at different time points

Read the whole article here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pai.13257