Pulmonary Function Testing in Asthmatic Children. Tests to Assess Outpatients During the Covid-19 Pandemic

摘要

The worldwide Covid-19 outbreak has challenged our rules to manage pediatric patients with chronic respiratory diseases, particularly asthma. The spread of the novel coronavirus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-Cov-2) constrained most countries to adopt drastic infection control strategies for health-care facilities (1, 2). Several Respiratory Societies have developed recommendations to protect patients and health-care staff in pulmonary function laboratories (3–6). These documents advise restriction of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) to those deemed essential, namely, spirometry and diffusion capacity measurements, in line with their clinical relevance and the epidemic phase. When testing is pertinent, infection prevention and control measures in the laboratory are required, including the disinfection of instruments, room cleaning, ventilation, and protective measures for patients and health personnel (3–6).