Laboratory And Imaging Tests - Diagnosing Asthma: Asthma
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Laboratory and imaging tests
There is no blood test for asthma, but your doctor may send a blood sample to the laboratory. High blood levels of eosinophils, IgE antibodies, or both point to an allergic predisposition and weigh somewhat in favor of an allergic disease such as asthma. But, like having a strong family history of asthma, this test result offers only circumstantial evidence for asthma. It is far from proof.
A chest x-ray can help rule out alternative diagnoses. An x-ray cannot show the narrowing of the bronchial tubes characteristic of asthma, but it can reveal congenital abnormalities, cystic fibrosis, and other potential causes of wheezing, such as — in children — small objects that have accidentally been inhaled into the bronchial tubes. In older adults, the x-ray can reveal advanced emphysema, congestive heart failure, chronic respiratory infections, and lung cancers.
| Last updated: | September 27, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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