Simple breathing test reveals hidden lung damage in children before stem cell transplant

Before a child ever reaches the operating threshold of a stem cell transplant, their lungs may already be carrying the quiet burden of disease and prior treatment. A multi-center study within the NIH-funded TRANSPIRE project found that oscillometry — a test requiring only calm, normal breathing — detected consistent lung abnormalities in children awaiting hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, abnormalities that conventional testing would likely have missed entirely. The findings suggest that the lungs of these children are shaped by what came before the transplant, not by the procedure itse