Abstract

Nasal nitric oxide (nNO) is extremely low in most people with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and its measurement is an important contributor to making the diagnosis. Standardisation in essential for clinical diagnosis, and for comparisons of epidemiological and other research data. Existing guidelines / technical standards focused on nNO measurements during expiration against resistance in older, cooperative children using chemiluminescence analysers. However measurements of nNO in pre-school children often require different methods to be employed but may facilitate early diagnosis, and electrochemical rather than chemiluminescence analysers are widely used. Hence a Task Force, supported by the European Respiratory Society, has developed a technical standard as the first step towards standardising sampling, analysis, and reporting of nNO measured as part of the diagnostic testing for PCD in childhood. We included preschool-age children and considered both chemiluminescence and electrochemical analysers and different methods of measurement. There was paucity of quality evidence for electrochemical analysers and sampling methods used in young children, and we propose future research priorities to allow updates of this technical standard. In this abstract we additionally present data relating to our dissemination strategy and progress to date.