New clinical practice guidelines from American Thoracic Society (ATS) recommend fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNo) test being considered in addition to usual care in patients with asthma. This could be beneficial for the treatment as recent studies as well as the interpretation of the results via ATS’ methodology suggest that any patient with asthma may be eligible for the measurement of FeNO in decision-making regarding therapy, the guidelines mentioned. 

The medical experts who carried out the research said that their study involved  determining whether or not FeNo testing can be performed alongside a potential treatment. An earlier study by a team researchers at the Department of pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, had suggested that patients with COPD and a history of asthma had a higher prevalence of elevated fractional exhaled nitric oxide levels compared with patients with COPD and no asthma history. This study, published in Thorax, analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007 to 2010 on 3,110,617 patients. 

The researchers, however, pointed out that the guidelines do not address the question of FeNO to establish the diagnosis of asthma or the utility of FeNO in monitoring asthma and expressed hopes for future research to establish the same.