RESEARCH ARTICLE
Not All Children with Under-Control Asthma are Controlled
G Ricci*, A Dondi, E Calamelli, V Dell’Omo, L Pagliara, T Belotti , M Masi
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2008Volume: 2
First Page: 1
Last Page: 6
Publisher ID: TORMJ-2-1
DOI: 10.2174/1874306400802010001
Article History:
Received Date: 10/1/2008Revision Received Date: 16/1/2008
Acceptance Date: 23/1/2008
Electronic publication date: 6/2/2008
Collection year: 2008
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Subclinical lung function alterations can sometimes be discovered in asthmatic patients under clinical control. This study aimed to identify the burden of asthmatic children with subclinical airways abnormalities who may benefit from an adjustment in asthma therapy. 134 6-to-17-year-old asthmatic children were enrolled. Of them, 98 presented apparently under clinical control disease and all performed spirometry before and after bronchodilation: 17 (17.3%) had a positive bronchodilation test, in addition to significantly lower lung function indexes as compared to those with under-control asthma who had a negative bronchodilation test. These patients were randomized and re-evaluated: patients (n=8) receiving an adjustment in their therapy showed an improvement in lung function tests and quality of life indexes as compared to 7 without therapy adjustment. In conclusion, a substantial number of apparently-under-control asthmatic children show airways alterations that can be improved by adjusting their therapy, which also seems to enhance their quality of life.
