[Criteria for determining the degree of handicap in bronchial asthma in childhood].

Patients history, clinical findings, pulmonary function and necessary therapy are combined for a diagram, which should easily allow to grade childhood asthma for general practitioners, pediatricians and consultants of the health insurance. The grading system is based on the cited literature, dealing in part with the matter, and on the international consensus report on asthma.

Ease-of-use study of pirbuterol acetate in the Autohaler actuator in three countries: the United States, Germany, and France.

The preferred form of acute bronchodilator therapy is to administer aerosolized beta-agonist by a metered-dose inhaler. Many patients cannot use this device efficiently, the major problem being coordination of dose release with inspiration. A new breath-actuated inhaler (the Autohaler actuator) has been developed to overcome this problem.

[Prevention of recurrent infection of the upper and lower airways. Multicenter, open study over three months].

In a multicenter open study involving 620 patients suffering from recurrent infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract aged between 12 and 89 years, the tolerability of an oral bacterial lysate was investigated. On the basis of the nature and frequency (1.9%) of adverse effects, and an analysis of the laboratory investigations over an observation period of three months, overall tolerability was adjudged to be excellent.

Protection against histamine-induced bronchoconstriction by loratadine.

In a simple blind pilot study we have examined the protective effect of loratadine, a new H1 histamine receptor antagonist, against bronchoconstriction induced by histamine inhalation. Six patients with an episodic or continuing obstructive bronchial disease and proven bronchial hyperreactivity were submitted to two identical histamine challenges, first without premedication and then after three days' treatment with 10 mg loratadine daily. The mean FEV1 fall in the first test after histamine inhalation was 33% and in the second test after pretreatment with loratadine only 3.

Immunology and allergy--the twins.

The sciences of immunology and allergology have common roots and could be considered as twins. Historical highlights in discoveries of allergic and immunologic phenomena are mentioned and the IgE-mediated allergic reaction is described as a form of immunologic processes. The knowledge in basic and clinical immunology as well as in experimental and applied allergology has grown enormously in the last two decades and the possibilities of making the best of the immense amount of new information are discussed (basic and post-graduate training, journals on immunology and allergology, attendance at congresses).

In vitro screening for inhalant allergy with multi SX 1 RAST (Phadiatop).

A new in vitro screening test for inhalant allergy (Phadiatop, Pharmacia Uppsala, Sweden) was evaluated for its effectiveness in identifying allergic patients. The test is based on the radio-allergo-sorbent-test (RAST). Specific IgE antibodies to different inhalant allergens are detected simultaneously.

[Specific IgG and IgE antibodies in house dust mite asthmatic patients and control probands].

Serum samples obtained from 55 patients with confirmed asthma induced by house dust mites, and 30 control subjects with no mite allergy, were investigated for specific IgG antibodies against the mites Dermatophagoides pt. and far. In 23 of the 55 asthmatics, specific hyposensitization treatment had previously been performed.

[Anamnesis, inhalation histamine test and 2 stress tests in the diagnosis of exercise-induced asthma].

Unlabelled: 32 patients (15 men, 17 women) of between 15 and 28 years of age were examined in a prospective study using a staged histamine test and a running test. A special anamnesis was prepared. Following a methodic preliminary examination two methods of the exercise test were compared with one another in 16 patients based on running freely and on the endless tape ergometer-in the form of a two-stage test with measurement of the heart rate.

[In vitro study as a screening test for inhalation allergy (Phadiatop)].

To investigate the question as to a possible allergic cause of disease of the airways, a new laboratory method has now become available (Phadiatop, Pharmacia Freiburg im Breisgau), which enables the physician who is not a specialist in allergology, to obtain initial orientation on the presence of an IgE-mediated allergic condition affecting the airways. The procedure is capable of identifying allergen-specific antibodies against ten different inhalation allergens, simultaneously and undifferentiated. It is available either as a radioimmunoassay or an enzyme immunoassay.

Double-blind crossover study comparing sodium cromoglycate, reproterol, reproterol plus sodium cromoglycate, and placebo in exercise-induced asthma.

Sixteen patients were included in the analysis of this double-blind crossover study comparing the effect of sodium cromoglycate, reproterol, sodium cromoglycate plus reproterol, and placebo in exercise-induced asthma. Both the sodium cromoglycate and the reproterol-containing treatment significantly inhibited exercise-induced asthma. The best protection is effected by the combination of sodium cromoglycate and reproterol.

[Intolerance reactions to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSA) in adolescents].

Six adolescents with allergy or intolerance to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) showed different types of reaction (asthma, urticaria, anaphylactoid reaction). The results of 60 oral or bronchial challenges in asthmatic adolescents with no positive history of NSAID-intolerance are presented. NSAID should be prescribed very carefully after detailed medical history--especially in adolescents with obstructive lung disease.

[Influence of ketotifen on IgE-mediated cutaneous test reactions (author's transl)].

The influence of ketotifen on IgE-mediated skin reactivity was investigated in two studies in 20 and 14 adolescent patients with pollen allergy. In the first intraindividual, double-blind randomised study, ketotifen showed a significant decrease (P less than 0.001) of the prick test weal by 38% after a 3-day-medication of 1 mg b.

Pharmacological rehabilitation of the asthmatic child.

Pharmacological rehabilitation is defined as a decrease of bronchial hyperreactivity and a stabilization of the bronchial reactivity after treatment with drugs possessing prophylactic and therapeutic properties. The models used for the study of the effectiveness of different compounds are the bronchial provocation tests with allergens, histamine, acetylcholine or metacholine, PGF2 or SO2, as well as exercise-induced asthma or challenges with drugs and food. For the critical examination of a drug's effectiveness, the high reproducibility of the test employed is of extraordinary importance.

[The anti-allergic effect of an oral calcium preparation. Controlled double-blind study].

The effect of an orally applied calcium preparation (Frubiase Calcium forte) was investigated and compared with a placebo in 20 adolescent patients submitted to a random double-blind test on the immediate allergic reaction. The prick test with histamine and grass pollen mixed extract showed a highly significant statistical decrease (p less than 0,001) of wheal extension after an oral dose 1 x 6 Frubiase Calcium forte fluid ampoules, when compared to the test before application.

[Extrinsic allergy in obstructive respiratory disease in childhood and adolescence (author's transl)].

The incidence of extrinsic allergy was studied in 1,246 children and adolescents with recurrent unspecific respiratory and allergic complaints. Special attention was paid to obstructive respiratory diseases, such as bronchial asthma and obstructive of asthmatic bronchitis. Skin tests and the radio-allergo-sorbent test (RAST) showed sensitization in 77% of the cases.