FeNO testing is now recommended as part of a raft of changes to the NICE asthma guidelines published today.

FeNO is the measurement of Nitric Oxide Concentration that the body naturally produces in the airways from a breath sample. Asthma sufferers tend to produce a higher than normal concentration of Nitric Oxide which is a strong indicator of airway inflammation. A patient simply provides a breath sample using a FeNO monitor requiring minimal patient compliance and respiratory effort with instant results.

According to NICE asthma guidelines NG80 published on 29th November 2017, it is recognised that incorrect diagnosis of asthma is a significant problem in the UK.

Asthma is a disease that is often challenging to assess as there is no single objective test available to confirm a diagnosis, and as a whole lacks a gold standard. Historically, a diagnosis of asthma has been principally based on thorough history taken by an experienced clinician. Multiple studies suggest that up to 30% of adults diagnosed with the condition do not have clear evidence of asthma. Some studies have even found that asthma may have been under-diagnosed.

NICE recommend that a FeNO test should be offered as the first line of investigation for adult patients (17 and over) if a diagnosis of asthma is being considered. A FeNO test should also be considered for children (aged 5 to 16) if there is diagnostic uncertainty following initial assessment. NICE also state that Asthma should no longer be diagnosed based on clinical symptoms, medical history or spirometry alone; and that a combination of objective tests including FeNO would need to be performed in any case, to support a diagnosis.

Primary Care Supplies is proud to be a distributor of Bedfont Scientific who are manufacturers of the NObreath FeNO Monitoring device. The NObreath is a handheld, portable FeNO monitoring device that provides practices with a highly cost-effective solution per patient with high accuracy of results.

Read more about Bedfont NObreath FeNO monitor here