BACKGROUND Allergic rhinitis (AR) often coexists with and can significantly worsen bronchial asthma (BA). We evaluated the proportion of patients with BA and concomitant AR (BA+AR) diagnosed and treated in an average clinical practice. METHODS A cross-sectional study methodology was used to determine the prevalence of AR in patients more than 15 years of age with a documented history of asthm...

OBJECTIVES To estimate the cost and characterize the management of asthma attacks in primary care. DESIGN Prospective, observational study of 1 year's duration. Setting. 10 physician's offices at 9 primary care centers located in 5 provinces (Asturias, Barcelona, Cadiz, Madrid, and Valencia) of Spain. PARTICIPANTS 10 family physicians who saw 133 consecutive patients with an asthma attack. ...

Objective: To investigate a relationship of asthma symptoms and exacerbations with systemic (high-sensitivity Creactive protein (hs-CRP), eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP), leukocytes) and local (exhaled NO (FENO), pH and urates in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and exhaled breath temperature (EBT)) inflammatory biomarkers (BMs) in asthmatic children. Methods: This cross-sectional study comp...

notes the substantial benefit many children with moderate to severe chronic asthma derive from the use of steroid aerosols. However, it fails to emphasize the important place that regular use of bronchodilators has in management. It is inferred that if adequate control of asthma is not achieved with regular prophylactic disodium cromoglycate and bronchodilator therapy given early in the course ...

Allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma represent global health problems for all age groups. Asthma and rhinitis frequently coexist in the same subjects. Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) was initiated during a World Health Organization workshop in 1999 (published in 2001). ARIA has reclassified AR as mild/moderate-severe and intermittent/persistent. This classification closely reflec...

AIM To analyze the accuracy of diagnosis in a population receiving inhaled therapies due to respiratory diseases in a primary care setting. METHOD Noninterventional, multicenter, cross-sectional, observational epidemiologic study methodology. RESULTS A total of 9752 subjects were evaluated. Of these, 4188 (42.9%) patients were diagnosed with asthma, 4175 (42.8%) with chronic obstructive pul...

BACKGROUND The mechanisms leading to death from asthma are not completely understood. Recent studies suggest the involvement of the anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a, generated during complement activation, and their receptors C3aR and C5aR in the pathogenesis of asthma. OBJECTIVE The aim of our study was to investigate the expression of C3aR and C5aR in fatal asthma. METHODS We analyzed lung tiss...

Methods We selected 48 patients with moderate to severe rhinitis (12 of them had intermittent asthma) sensitized to Der p without prior treatment with allergen specific immunotherapy. The protocol was approved by the ethics committee. All participants signed informed consent. Determination of total IgE and specific IgE for Der p1 (D1) and Der p2 (D2) were performed in serum and nasal lavage, us...

A 62-year-old man with asthma sought care for intermittent fever, cough with expectoration, breathlessness and orthopnoea with grunting. Computed tomography revealed clusters of centrilobular nodules on both sides with a tree-in-bud appearance and mild diffuse bronchial wall thickening. Sputum sample grew pure colonies of Actinobacillus ureae which was confirmed by MALDI-TOF and 16SrRNA gene se...

BACKGROUND The non-invasive assessment of airway inflammation is potentially advantageous in asthma management. Exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO) measurement is cheap and has been proposed to reflect airway inflammation and oxidative stress but current data are conflicting. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to determine whether eCO is elevated in asthmatics, is regulated by steroid treatment and...