

Respiratory problems often involve the larynx. Both researchers and clinicians need to include the entire respiratory system when examining for respiratory problems.
We therefore need more focus on inducible laryngeal obstructions in both healthy and diseased. We believe that bringing different professional groups together, and working across disciplines, generates new ideas and brings research (and human health) forward.
Members of Bergen ILO group

From the top left in the photo:
Thomas Halvorsen, Tom Karlsen, Petrine Solli Veierød, Praveen Muralitharan, Lars Peder Bovim, Ola Røksund, John-Helge Heimdal, Mette Engan, Sverre Lehmann, Thor André Ellingsen, Hege Clemm, Magnus Hilland, Åse Johnsen Rogde, Zoe Fretheim-Kelly and Haakon Kvidaland
Not present in the photo:
Bente Frisk, Aida Constance Escobar Kvitting, Carolina Campos, Astrid Sandnes, Tiina Marit Andersen, Petter Helø Carlsen, Lorentz Sandvik, Merete Salveson Engeseth, Ida Jansrud Hammer, Bernt Bøgvold Aarli, Sigrun Margrethe Hjelle, Anne Kristine Brekka, Maria Vollsæter, Ole Christer Oma Gamlemshaug, Amanda Midttun Søreide, Lars Peder Vatshelle Bovim, Berte Taraldsen, Ingvild Øvstebø Engesæter, Kristine Vreim, Ingrid Nordeide Kuiper, Merete Røineland Benestad, Merete Salveson Engeseth and Jon Hardie.
Our history
It all started in 1997 with an idea from Professor Ola Røksund that “not all that wheezes is asthma”. Together with Professor Thomas Halvorsen, Professor John-Helge Heimdal and Professor Britt Skadberg, they developed the CLE-test, first published in Laryngoscope in 2006 (lenke). In 2010, the Department of Paediatric together with the ENT Department at Haukeland University Hospital established an outpatient clinic for patients, serving all of Norway. In 2011, Dr Robert Maat, MD /PhD, now working as an ENT in the Netherlands, defended the first PhD from Bergen ILO-group. In 2013, the EILO-register was established, which contains all consenting patients examined with the CLE-test since then.


In 2013, the first international consensus on nomenclature for inducible laryngeal obstructions was published in collaboration with ERS/ELS/ACCP. Since 2012, Associated Professor Tiina Andersen and Professor Ola Røksund developed a new protocol, examining laryngeal movements during mechanical insufflation; Tiina Andersen defended her PhD based on this work in 2018. The name of our research group gradually changed from EILO to ILO, to include all categories of inducible laryngeal obstructions. In 2020, Bergen-ILO group received NOK 20 million in funding from the Western Norway Regional Health Authority for the project HelpILO (lenke).
In 2021, we manage to include ILO as a new diagnose in the Norwegian/WHO ICD-10/11 diagnostic system. In 2022, a new medical consensus by IOC on acute respiratory illness in athletes highlights the importance of EILO.
There have been several Scandinavian EILO meetings in the last ten years; However, the first international EILO meeting was organized by Bergen in 2017, then in London 2018, and in Uppsala in 2019. Due to Covid, there were no conferences in 2020 and 2021.
We are grateful to host the 4th International ILO conference, which brings together even more people, and we look forward to meeting old and new friends. We are also pleased to announce that the 5th International ILO conference will be held in Denver, Colorado, USA, in May/June 2023.
PhD's involving Bergen ILO-group
-
2011 Robert Maat
-
2012 Ola Røksund
-
2015 Hege Clemm
-
2018 Tiina Andersen
-
2020 Tom Karlsen
-
2021 Astrid Sandnes
-
2021 Zoe Fretheim-Kelly
-
2022 Mette Engan
-
2022 Merete Engeset