Unfortunately it should be noted that asthma is diagnosed bad, especially in children (20%). This is due to the fact that asthma is different variety of clinical and functional manifestations of age-related sick child, characteristics of the disease, possible combination with other bronchopulmonary diseases, and not just with them.
Often the diagnosis of asthma in children is very difficult and requires differentiation with a wide range of diseases.
Necessary to differentiate asthma from pneumonia and acute bronchitis, diphtheria croup, foreign bodies, airway, cystic fibrosis, primary immune deficiency, congenital malformations of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
Often, the diagnosis of asthma replace the term "allergic bronchitis". However, in contrast to allergic asthma bronchitis is not accompanied by attacks of breathlessness and wheezing.
Stable moist rales are usually doctors regard as a manifestation of chronic infectious-inflammatory process (pneumonia). But moist rales in the lungs can be caused by allergic inflammation, which is now considered the main mechanism for the development of asthma.
In contrast to the attacks of breathlessness characteristic of asthma, shortness of Williams syndrome - Campbell is ongoing in patients with pulmonary heart is formed rapidly, there is a thickening of the nail phalanges ("drumsticks"), there are no manifestations of diathesis.
In 8% of patients with young children, but were observed over the asthma, the true cause of shortness of breath were foreign bodies (seeds, seeds of apples). Removal of foreign bodies has led to a complete recovery.
Among the diseases that are similar to asthma, describes the various lesions of larynx and tracheo-bronchial tree, in particular epiglotit, papilloma of the bronchus. Various vascular anomalies compressing the airways, causing bronchial obstruction and are often mistakenly classified as bronchial asthma. When respiratory neurosis, for example, the children complain of a feeling of "lack" of air, the inability to take a deep breath. Breathing is quickened from time to time, forced. In contrast to asthma, patients with no characteristic changes in the lungs and bronchodilators drugs do not bring relief. For the diagnosis of asthma in children are now developed a computer expert system, which operates on a personal computer.
In the framework introduced by anamnestic data and the most characteristic clinical features and laboratory findings, typical of bronchial asthma and other diseases, which account for most of its snow. In total, the database was introduced about 13 diseases and 96 of their characteristic features.
Assessment of quality of decisions of the expert system was carried out by comparison of professional diagnosis and the diagnosis obtained by the interaction with the system. Studies have shown that 87% of the diagnoses derived from the work of an expert system, coincided with the diagnosis established by the clinicians.
Modern methods of diagnosis of asthma, used by physicians of the country, contribute to its early recognition of children and designation of adequate therapy.
