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Classification and pharmacological treatment of preschool wheezing: changes since 2008

Since the publication of the European Respiratory Society Task Force report in 2008, significant new evidence has become available on the classification and management of preschool wheezing disorders. In this report, an international consensus group reviews this new evidence and proposes some modifications to the recommendations made in 2008.

Specifically, the consensus group acknowledges that wheeze patterns in young children vary over time and with treatment, rendering the distinction between episodic viral wheeze and multiple-trigger wheeze unclear in many patients. Inhaled corticosteroids remain first-line treatment for multiple-trigger wheeze, but may also be considered in patients with episodic viral wheeze with frequent or severe episodes, or when the clinician suspects that interval symptoms are being under reported. Any controller therapy should be viewed as a treatment trial, with scheduled close follow-up to monitor treatment effect.

The group recommends discontinuing treatment if there is no benefit and taking favourable natural history into account when making decisions about long-term therapy. Oral corticosteroids are not indicated in mild-to-moderate acute wheeze episodes and should be reserved for severe exacerbations in hospitalised patients. Future research should focus on better clinical and genetic markers, as well as biomarkers, of disease severity.

Real-life use of inhaled corticosteroids in COPD patients versus the GOLD proposals: a paradigm shift in GOLD 2011?

To the Editor:

Clinical trials in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients have shown that the long-term use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in COPD patients reduced the number of exacerbations per patient per year and improved health status. Early studies have suggested increased ICS efficacy in patients with low lung function and frequent exacerbations. The efficacy was reinforced when ICS was used in conjunction with long-acting β2-agonists (LABA). In most countries, health authorities approved ICS/LABA combinations in COPD patients with severe airflow impairment and frequent exacerbations, as also recommended in the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2007 document. However, several surveys found poor adherence to this proposal among primary care physicians and pulmonologists in “real life”, ICS being often prescribed at a milder stage of the disease.

The GOLD 2011 document proposed a new multidimensional system for the assessment and management of patients with COPD. This system classifies COPD patients into four categories (A, B, C and D) based on the level of symptoms (dyspnoea or global clinical impact) and the risk of future exacerbations, as assessed using the severity of airflow limitation and the past history …

Simvastatin inhibits smoke-induced airway epithelial injury: implications for COPD therapy

"International ERS/ATS guidelines on definition, evaluation and treatment of severe asthma." Kian Fan Chung, Sally E. Wenzel, Jan L. Brozek, Andrew Bush, Mario Castro, Peter J. Sterk, Ian M. Adcock, Eric D. Bateman, Elisabeth H. Bel, Eugene R. Bleecker, L

A 2-year randomised placebo-controlled trial of doxycycline for lymphangioleiomyomatosis

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is characterised by lung cysts and airflow obstruction. Matrix metalloproteinases have been implicated in lung destruction in LAM. We performed a randomised, double-blind trial, comparing the matrix metalloproteinases inhibitor doxycycline with placebo on the progression of LAM.

23 females with LAM were randomised to doxycycline 100 mg daily for 3 months followed by 200 mg daily for 21 months, or matched placebo. Lung function, exercise capacity, quality of life and matrix metalloproteinases levels were measured.

21 patients completed 6 months of treatment, 17 completed 1 year of treatment and 15 completed 2 years of treatment. Eight withdrew from the trial due, four due to a pneumothorax and four because of other reasons. The mean±sd decline in FEV1, the primary endpoint, did not differ between the groups being -90±154 mL·year–1 in the placebo group and -123±246 mL·year–1 in the doxycycline group (difference -32.5, 95% CI -213–148; p=0.35). Doxycycline had no effect upon vital capacity, gas transfer, shuttle walk distance or quality of life. Urine matrix metalloproteinases-9 measurements were lower with doxycycline treatment (p=0.03).

Although with limited numbers we cannot completely exclude an effect of doxycycline, the lack of effect on any outcome makes it unlikely that doxycycline has a useful effect in LAM.

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