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At UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, we believe parents and guardians can contribute to the success of this test and invite you to participate. Please read the following information to learn about the test and how you can help.
Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) testing, also called asthma challenge testing, actually consists of four separate tests combined into one to give doctors important information about how your child’s lungs and heart are working together before, during and after exercise. These tests might be ordered if your child has had shortness of breath, chest pains or dizziness after exercise, or to see if your child develops bronchospasm (BRONK-oh-spaz-um) during exercise after he or she has already been diagnosed with asthma. The information from EIA testing can help the doctor understand your child’s symptoms and decide how to treat them.
Your child will be connected to several machines to take heart and lung measurements before, during and after exercise.
Your child should stop any asthma medications—especially short-acting bronchodilators (Bronk-oh-DIE-late-erz), such as albuterol (Ventolin/Proventil), levalbuterol (Xopenex), or iptratroprium (Atrovent)—for 24 hours before the test.
If you have any concerns or questions about any medications your child is taking, please check with the exercise lab staff when you schedule your child’s test.
The first test your child will have is a spirometry (spy-ROM-a-tree) test to check his or her lung or "pulmonary" function. This test is done by having your child take a large breath and then breathe out very hard and fast through a tube connected to a computer.
Next, your child will be connected to several machines to take measurements before, during and after exercise. None of the machines used in this test will hurt your child in any way, and there are no needles used.
When the machines are all connected, your child will be asked to walk briskly or jog on a treadmill.
Your child may return to all of his or her normal activities and medications when the EIA testing is over.
If your child has any special needs or health issues you feel the doctor or nurse performing the test needs to know about, please call the Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Allergy and Immunology at UPMC Children’s Hospital before the test and ask to speak with a nurse. It is important to notify us in advance about any special needs.
Locations
Children's Hospital's main campus is located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood. Our main hospital address is:
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh One Children’s Hospital Way 4401 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15224
In addition to the main hospital, Children's has many convenient locations in other neighborhoods throughout the greater Pittsburgh region.
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Interested in giving to Children's Hospital? Support the hospital by making a donation online, joining our Heroes in Healing monthly donor program, or visiting our site to learn about the other ways you can give back.