Methacholine Challenge
For asthma sufferers, our first step is to perform a comprehensive evaluation to ensure that we have an accurate diagnosis. Then we may suggest a methacholine challenge. A methacholine challenge is an essential testing tool that provides an unbiased way to evaluate asthma, especially if the diagnosis is still unclear after your office test and evaluation.
How the methacholine challenge works
The purpose of this type of test is to determine how responsive (or how irritated) your airways are. We do this by having you inhale increasing doses of methacholine, a drug which can cause narrowing of the airways, to see how much it affects your breathing. As you inhale the methacholine, we perform checks to see how your airway responds.
The test is closely monitored and perfectly safe.
Please read these directions prior to your testing: Methacholine Challenge Instructions