All That Wheezes Is Not Asthma

Wheezing is a high pitched, whistling sound generated when air flows through nar-rowed airways and is often equated with asthma. However, wheezing may be a present-ing symptom of various other conditions including structural lesions of the airways, for-eign body aspiration, pulmonary infections as well as cardiac causes. Underlying etiology of wheezing may also vary with age. Detailed history, physical examination, and labora-tory investigations are often required to identify the underlying etiology of wheezing. Additional studies may sometimes be needed to accurately identify the underlying etiology such as pulmonary function test or spirometry, chest radiography (chest X-ray), and bronchoscopy. This review article discusses the common causes of wheezing encoun-tered in clinical practice.