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The Aeriflux™ Breath Test helps determine objectively when airway acid causes cough. 
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Professional > Indications and Use
Indications for Use Use with physical exam and patient history to better diagnose etiology of persistent cough. Indications include:
The Aeriflux Exhaled Breath Condensate pH Test is not a stand-alone test and should be used with a patient history and physical exam. After the patient history and physical exam have been completed, a respiratory therapist or nurse will typically demonstrate the collection procedure and provide a specimen collection kit to the patient. Children as young as 5 years of age can supply the breath samples for Aeriflux™. It is as safe as playing a clarinet, or blowing up a balloon, but much easier. Providing sample is just like breathing. We ask only that that your patient carefully follows the easy-to-read instructions. Six breath specimens are collected by the patient at home, each following a new episode of cough. The specimens are returned to the ordering physician's office or a satellite laboratory location. The entire collection process typically occurs over a weekend. The laboratory will send the specimens directly to our reference lab, where we perform the Gas-Standardized pH Assay to accurately measure breath acidity. Dissolved carbon dioxide is removed from the specimen then pH is measured with a sensitive pH electrode. Any one of the six pH measurement readings below 7.4 indicates abnormal airway acidification. A report of results is faxed to the ordering physician from the local laboratory. Typical turnaround is a week to ten days from test order to presentation of results. Aeriflux testing is best performed when patients have not been taking proton pump inhibition for at least 7 days, nor H2 antagonists for 3 days. Aeriflux seeks acid in the breath, and if acid is well suppressed, the test may not provide as confident a signal. We recommend withholding the acid blockade medications prior to breath sample collection. Step-by-step instructions accompany the collection system for the Aeriflux™ test. The concepts underlying the success of Aeriflux™ are: 1. Aeriflux™ is simple and completely comfortable 2. Aeriflux™ focuses on cough symptoms, and uses the cough to prompt collection of breath sample. 3. If a cough occurs when there is a low exhaled breath condensate pH, acid-related etiologies of cough can objectively be established, and acid reflux can more confidently be considered due to its widely-acknowledged role as the dominant acid-related cough etiology. Use of Results Measurements of breath pH accurately identify when cough is accompanied by airway acidification
Test Report and Interpretation The Aeriflux™ Exhaled Breath Condensate pH Test consists of six independent specimens, each collected by the patient immediately following a new and particularly bothersome episode of cough. It is , in fact, this cough which creates the biophysical stimulus for the patient to collect a breath condensate specimen. The pH of each of these specimens is measured and recorded at the laboratory along with the date/time collected, and confirmation of patient-reported symptoms. Importantly, all six measurements are considered together. As such these six measurements create a profile of results specific to this patient, and it is the profile which is interpreted as either positive or negative for presence of airway acid during cough. A sample report of results, along with interpretation guidelines and explanation, can be found by clicking on this link.
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