All issues > Volume 28(8); 1985

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1985;28(8):756-765. Published online August 31, 1985.

A Study of Measurement of Physical Development and Cardiothoracic Ratio in the Asthmatic Children.

Hee Dae Park, Ki Young Lee

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Pediatric asthma is characterized by high incidence and symptoms of severe respiratory difficulty and causes great suffering by the patients due to the chronicity and the recurrent nature of the disorder. In addition, growth and development of the child are hindered and creates problems in both the psychological and education aspects of life. Changes in the lung capacity in asthmatic patients affects the circulatory system and the thorax. In the asthmatic child, disorders in physical development, cardiopulmonary function and the normal development of the thorax are problems of significance in the pediatric field; and being such, asthmatic children were studied with respect to the retardation in physical development and the cardiothoracic ratio which is affected by disorders in lung function and circulation. Two-hundred and ninty-eight asthmatic chilnren visited the Pediatric Allergy Clinic of Severance Hospital were studied. A comparison was made between the measurements on physical development of the asthmatic children and that of the standard children in the urban region as established by the Korean Pediatric Association in 1975. The cardiothoracic ratio of 202 in the asthmatic group and 232 in the control group was measured from chest X-rays taken and a comparative study was made with the following results. 1) Comparison of the height, weight, chest and head circumference between the asthmatic and standard children in the urban region were statistically not significant. 2)In comparison of the duration of asthma, children under the 25th percentile growth curve with less than 3 yrs duration was 21.7% whereas the same children with more than 7 yrs duration was 38.8%. This is statistically significant. 3)No statistical significance was found comparing weight, chest and head circumference with respect to the duration of asthma. 4)In comparison of the severity of the symptoms of asthmatic children under the 25th percentile growth curve, mild symptomatology group was 23.1% and severe symptomatology group was 40.7%. This is statistically significant. 5)No statistical significance was noted comparing weight, chest and head circumference with respect to the severity of the asthmatic symptoms. 6)In comparing the cardiothoracic ratio of the asthmatic group and control group, the location of the right cardiophrenic angle on the dorsal ribs in all age groups of the asthmatic children were downward. No significant difference was noted in the internal diameter of the thorax while the transverse cardiac diameter showed significant reduction, which caused statistically significant reduction of cardiothoracic ratio in asthmatic children. In summary, there seems to be a close relationship between retardation in physical development, changes in the cardiothoracic ratio and the duration of asthma, the severity of the symptoms in the pediatric patients. Therefore, it can be considered that early detection of the pediatric patients, continuous observation, active prevention and treatment of asthmatic attack are important.

Keywords :Cardio-thoracic ratio