[NONSPECIFIC SENSITIVITY OF THE BRONCHES IN PATIENTS WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA AND RESPIRATORY ASYMPTOMATIC CHILDREN].

The aim of our study was a comparative description of the state of bronchial sensitivity to nonspecific stimuli in respiratory asymptomatic children and children with bronchial asthma. We investigated a total of 242 children aged between 7 and 14 years. The group of respiratory asymptomatic children included 100 examined and 142 had an established diagnosis of atopic bronchial asthma at the I, II, and III stages in the phase of remission. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of bioethics. In order to investigate the nature of the reaction, bronchoprovocation test with the acetylcholine (bronchoconstrictor) was conducted in children. The test involved monitoring the state of bronchial patency under the effect of increasing concentrations of the stimulus. The acetylcholine test showed that the state of nonspecific bronchial hypersensitivity was expressed in the most of patients with asthma and in 5% of respiratory asymptomatic children. Comparison of the results of the nonspecific bronchial sensitivity and diagnosed airway obstruction did not reveal the relationship between these characteristics. The findings suggest that the presence of nonspecific bronchial hypersensitivity is a congenital and not an acquired phenomenon.