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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Pulmonology
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1382680

Clinical Characteristics and Factors Associated with Mucus Plugs under Bronchoscopy in Children Hospitalized for Acute Asthma Attack

Provisionally accepted
Peng Han Peng Han 1*Ju Yin Ju Yin 1*JIAO ANXIA JIAO ANXIA 2Huimin Zou Huimin Zou 1*Yuliang Liu Yuliang Liu 1*Zheng Li Zheng Li 3*QUAN WANG QUAN WANG 3Jie Wu Jie Wu 4*Kunling Shen Kunling Shen 1,5*
  • 1 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
  • 2 Department of Interventional Pulmonology, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
  • 3 Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, BeiJing, China
  • 4 Department of Emergency, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, BeiJing, China
  • 5 Institute of Pediatrics, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: To describe clinical characteristics of hospitalized children with acute asthma attacks complicated with mucus plugs and to investigate the factors associated with mucus plugs in asthma children. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed hospitalized children and adolescents with acute asthma attacks from January 2016 to December 2021. The demographic information and characteristics were collected. Subjects were categorized into the mucus plugs group and the control group based on the bronchoalveolar lavage results. The Logistic regression analyses were utilized to assess the relative factors associated with mucus plugs. All data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0. Results: This study included 242 individuals. Out of the 151 subjects who underwent bronchoscopy, 62.9% were classified in the mucus plug group and 37.1% in the control group. The subjects with dyspnea had a higher proportion in the mucus plug group (52.6% vs. 26.8%). The serum total IgE level of the mucus plug group was lower than the control group. The proportion of subjects who were diagnosed with asthma for the first time during hospitalization (87.4% vs. 76.8%) and combined with respiratory infection (91.6% vs. 82.1%) in the mucus plug group might be higher than that in the control group. More subjects in the mucus plug group were administered systemic glucocorticoid, magnesium sulfate, aminophylline, and mucolytic drugs after hospitalization. In multivariable analysis, diagnosed with asthma for the first time during hospitalization (OR=4.404; 1.101-17.614), dyspnea (OR=4.039; 1.306-12.496), and cesarean (OR=0.274; 0.092-0.812) might be associated with mucus plug in children hospitalized for an acute asthma attack. Suggests: While our retrospective study suggest that some clinical features of children hospitalized with asthma who have mucus plugs differ from those without, further studies are required.

    Keywords: Mucus Plugs 1, Asthma attack 2, children 3, Bronchoscope 4, Factors 5

    Received: 06 Feb 2024; Accepted: 27 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Han, Yin, ANXIA, Zou, Liu, Li, WANG, Wu and Shen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Peng Han, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
    Ju Yin, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
    Huimin Zou, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
    Yuliang Liu, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
    Zheng Li, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, BeiJing, China
    Jie Wu, Department of Emergency, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, BeiJing, China
    Kunling Shen, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.