Breath tests cover the fraction of nitric oxide in expired gas (FeNO), volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), variables in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and other measurements.
For EBC and for FeNO, official recommendations for standardised procedures are more
than 10 years old and there is none for exhaled VOCs and particles. The aim of this
document is to provide technical standards and recommendations for sample collection
and analytic approaches and to highlight future research priorities in the field.
For EBC and FeNO, new developments and advances in technology have been evaluated
in the current document. This report is not intended to provide clinical guidance
on disease diagnosis and management.Clinicians and researchers with expertise in exhaled
biomarkers were invited to participate. Published studies regarding methodology of
breath tests were selected, discussed and evaluated in a consensus-based manner by
the Task Force members.Recommendations for standardisation of sampling, analysing
and reporting of data and suggestions for research to cover gaps in the evidence have
been created and summarised.Application of breath biomarker measurement in a standardised
manner will provide comparable results, thereby facilitating the potential use of
these biomarkers in clinical practice.
