Skip to main content

Table 1 Most Common Causes of Wheezing by Mechanism

From: Wheezing in infancy

Diagnostic Category

Cause

Anatomic

Extrinsic to airway

 

Lymphadenopathy

 

Tumor

 

Diaphragmatic hernia

 

Vascular ring/aberrant vessel

 

Intrinsic to airway

 

Tracheomalacia

 

Foreign body

 

Endobronchial tuberculosis

 

Vocal cord dysfunction

 

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia

 

Congestive heart failure

 

Congenital lobar emphysema

Inflammatory/infectious

Asthma

 

Bronchiolitis

 

Respiratory syncytial virus

 

Influenza A and B

 

Adenovirus

 

Rhinovirus

 

Bronchitis

 

Pneumonia

 

Mycoplasma pneumonia

 

Chlamydia pneumonia

 

Aspiration pneumonia

 

Bronchiectasis

 

Alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency

 

Pulmonary hemosiderosis

Genetic/metabolic

Cystic fibrosis

 

Immotile cilia syndrome

 

Kartagener syndrome

 

Metabolic disturbance

 

Hypocalcemia

 

Hypokalemia

  1. Adapted from Shah (2004) [10].