The Effect of Environmental Temperature on Airway Resistance in the Asthmatic Child

Abstract

Extract: To test the hypothesis that receptors to cold are in the upper air passages, the effect of a change in environmental temperature from a high of 90–95° F to a low of 50–55° F was studied in a group of eight children with a history of chronic asthma before and after applying topical anesthesia to nose and pharynx; nine children without cardiac or pulmonary disease served as control subjects. The forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV₁), the maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV), and the maximum expiratory flow rates at 50% (V₅₀) and 25% (V₂₅) of the vital capacity were used to assess airflow resistance. In the untreated asthmatic there was a significant fall in all test values at the low temperature (P < 0.01), which indicated an increase in airflow resistance. When nose and pharynx of the asthmatic patients were sprayed with lidocaine before decrease of the environmental temperature, there was no significant difference in test results (P > 0.05). These results offer additional evidence in support of the reflex nature of cold-induced bronchoconstriction with cold-sensitive receptors present in the upper airways.

Speculation: The increase in airway resistance noted in the asthmatic patients as environmental temperature was reduced, even though the absolute level was not very low, indicates that there are temperature-sensitive receptors in the upper airways which respond to a change in temperature as well as to the absolute level of temperature.

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