Dr. Darryl Adamko: Little Lungs, Lessons Learned

Researchers Under the Scope

Diagnosing pulmonary diseases ilike asthma in young children is still largely a matter of trial and error, according to Saskatchewan’s top pediatric respirologist.

As viruses and colds tear through schools and daycares across North America, Dr. Darryl Adamko wants to change that.

“If you have asthma this year and you're not taking your inhaled steroids, well you're rolling the dice,” said Adamko, who’s watched an influx of young patients over the past few months at the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon.

In children, problems with breathing are the leading cause of hospitalizations.

Undiagnosed asthma and other pulmonary conditions in children mean small patients have a a much tougher fight when they’re infected by Covid-19, RSV or influenza.

“You have to be taking those preventative drugs first before the virus finds you,” said Adamko.

That’s why he’s pinning down biomarkers for pulmonary disease in a familiar tool for family doctors: urine samples.

“We still really don't have a great test for like preschool kids. It's just history for the most part,” he said.

Using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, he and his team have spent more than a decade analyzing urine samples and refining their methodology.

“Now that we've got enough urine samples analyzed that, I think we've got a good signal,” said Adamko.

His research today is aimed at creating a urine test that would give giving family doctors and paediatricians a faster, more efficient way to diagnose pulmonary conditions long before kids arrive at the hospital.

In this episode, he explains why a resurgence of RSV after years of Covid restrictions has hit young patients hard.

“It's really bad for little babies. It loves the smallest little airways,” Adamko said. “This year the problem is we've got a bunch of two-year-olds, and one-year-olds who have never seen these viruses.”