Resumen de Estudio de la función pulmonar en niños tras neumonía adquirida en la comunidad en edad preescolar

A. I. Jiménez Ortega, A. López Neyra, V. Sanz Santiago, J. Álvarez-Coca, José Ramón Villa Asensi

• Aim Some studies relate pulmonary function (PF) during adult life to community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) suffered during infancy. The aim of the present work was to evaluate PF in children following CAP, contracted at pre-school age, which required hospitalisation. The hypothesis was that, once resolved, CAP in pre-school age children does not affect PF; further monitoring should therefore be unnecessary.

  Methods and Materials PF was studied in a cohort of children who had suffered CAP at pre-school age, for which they were hospitalised. Children aged over 4 years were selected to try to ensure adequate collaboration, and a forced spirometry test was attempted in all of them.

  Results Of the initial 49 patients, 42 (85.7%) correctly performed the forced spirometry test. All were asymptomatic at the time of examination. The mean age of these patients was 6,6±1,2 years; 25 were boys (54,3%). The mean time between CAP and the test was 19,5±7,6 months. The results (mean±SD) obtained with respect to theoretical values were: forced respiratory volume in the first second 107.73±14.56% and forced vital capacity 101,6±15,35%.

  Conclusions The PF of children who have suffered CAP at pre-school age is normal following the resolution of the condition. No further PF studies are required after CAP resolves