Infant whole-body plethysmography | Infants <2–3 years | FRC sRaw | Yes (FRC) [5] | Yes (FRC) [6, 7] | Advantages: possible to obtain simultaneous estimation of lung size and resistance Disadvantages: not widely available; time consuming; requires sedation; sRaw less standardised |
Compliance and resistance measurement | Infants | τrs Crs Rrs | Yes [8] | Yes [6, 9] | Advantages: may quantify restrictive lung disease; can be performed together with infant whole-body plethysmography Disadvantages: not widely available; time consuming; requires sedation |
Forced expiratory manoeuvres: RVRTC and TVRTC | Infants | V′maxFRC FVC FEV0.5 FEF25-75 | Yes [10, 11] | Yes [12–14] | Advantages: obtains parameters comparable to spirometry; highly reproducible; validated Disadvantages: not widely available; time consuming; requires sedation; RTC less discriminative than RVRTC |
Tidal breathing analysis | Infants and pre-school children | VT RR tPTEF/tE | Yes [15] | Yes 0–5 years [16, 17] | Advantages: high feasibility in awake infants and pre-schoolers Disadvantages: sedation is often needed |
Rint | Pre-school children and older | Rint | Yes [15] | Yes 2–13 years [18] | Advantages: high feasibility in pre-schoolers Disadvantages: measures Raw only |
Oscillometry | Pre-school children and older | Rrs Xrs | Yes [15] | Yes (from 2 years) [19, 20] | Advantages: high feasibility in pre-schoolers; measures airway and lung tissue properties Disadvantages: may be experienced as unpleasant; requires several repetitions |
Whole body plethysmography | Pre-school children and older | sRaw Raw FRC RV TLC | Yes [21] | Yes [22, 23] | Advantages: lung volume measurements; sRaw for pre-schoolers/all ages (does not require “panting”); can be combined with spirometry manoeuvre; available in most centres Disadvantages: Volume measurements for school children requires maximal in-/expiration; cooperation is needed |
Spirometry | Pre-school children and older | FEV1 FEV0.5 FEV0.75 FVC FEV1/FVC FEF25-75 | Yes [15, 24, 25] | Yes (from 3 years) [26–28] | Advantages: feasible and well standardized technique; available in all centres; fast to perform Disadvantages: requires forced expiration |
Diffusing capacity | School children and older | TLCO KCO TLC VC | Yes [30] | Yes (from 5 years) [31–35] | Advantages: feasible and well standardised technique; available in most centres Disadvantages: measurement of haemoglobin is required |
MBW | All ages | LCI 2,5 Scond Sacin FRCgas | Yes [37, 68] | Yes, but only for SF6 MBW [8–40] | Advantages: only tidal breathing is required; the technique is available for all ages Disadvantages: reference material for N2 MBW is missing; time consuming in advanced stages of the disease; the value of N2 MBW in infants is still not clear |
6-minute walk test | Pre-school and older | 6-MWD | Yes [72] | Yes (from 3 years) [73] | Advantages: does not require any specific equipment Disadvantages: cannot distinguish cardiac/muscular/ pulmonary impairment |
Maximal exercise test | School age and older | V′O2peak HRmax RER V′E Wmax | Yes [74, 75]¶ | Yes [78] | Advantages: a more precise estimate of the patient's maximal cardiopulmonary capacity Disadvantages: requires specific equipment; requires motivation from the patient; more risk involved than in submaximal tests; requires trained staff; skills needed to clarify cardiac/muscular/ pulmonary impairment |