OBJECTIVE To determine whether inhaled corticosteroids can be discontinued in the stable phase of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or if this therapy should be continued. DESIGN Nonrandomized open uncontrolled 5-year trial. SETTING Prospective study in general practice. PATIENTS Forty-eight patients with steroid-dependent asthma or COPD who had shown a decline in for...

BACKGROUND Mixing of nebulized drugs is common in real life, but its consequences on aerosol output and granulometry are poorly known. METHODS In an in vitro study I evaluated the effects on aerosol output, drug output, and aerosol particle size characteristics of mixing either beclomethasone dipropionate or budesonide with albuterol and ipratropium bromide. I tested the SideStream and VentSt...

BACKGROUND Nonbacterial prostatitis, together with chronic pelvic pain syndrome, accounts for 90-95 % of prostatitis cases. Anti-inflammatory medications are commonly used to reduce storage/inflammatory symptoms that can deteriorate quality of life. The purpose of this study was to observe the efficacy and safety of beclomethasone dipropionate rectal suppositories (Topster®) in inflammations of...

INTRODUCTION The choice among the different treatments available can have a great impact on the costs of asthma, OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to estimate the incremental cost-utility ratio of three inhaled corticosteroids (ICs): budesonide (BUD), fluticasone propionate (FP), and ciclesonide, compared to beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) (the only IC included in the Compulsory He...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether the dose of inhaled corticosteroids can be stepped down in patients with chronic stable asthma while maintaining control. DESIGN One year, randomised controlled, double blind, parallel group trial. SETTING General practices throughout western and central Scotland. PARTICIPANTS 259 adult patients with asthma receiving regular treatment with inhaled corticost...

The vasoconstrictive efficacies of glucocorticosteroids (GS) are usually compared by the McKenzie skin-blanching test and taken as an index of relative potency. The rationale for the present study was to transpose the McKenzie test to the airway and to compare the airway vascular effects of three inhaled GS: beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP), fluticasone propionate (FP) and budesonide (BUD), in...

BACKGROUND It has been claimed that exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) could be regarded as a surrogate marker for sputum eosinophil count in patients with asthma. However, the FeNO threshold value that identifies a sputum eosinophil count ≥3% in an unselected population of patients with asthma has been poorly studied. METHODS This retrospective study was conducted in 295 patients with asthma aged 1...

Paradoxical effects (bronchoconstriction instead of bronchodilatation) have been reported after inhalation of beta2-mimetics in asthmatic children, and it has been suggested that this was due to osmolality and pH changes of the nebulizer solution. We tested commercially available nebulizer solutions and found osmolality changes after 5, 10 and 15 min of nebulization. Osmolality was measured in ...