Changes to inhaled corticosteroid dose when initiating combination inhaler therapy in long-acting β agonist-naïve patients with asthma: a retrospective database analysis.

Retrospective prescribing data were obtained from 46 general practice surgeries in NHS Scotland. Patients with asthma who were naïve to previous long-acting β agonist therapy and initiated combination inhaler therapy in 2008-2009 were classified according to the inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) dose in their combination inhaler compared with the highest dose of ICS they received before initiation. Among the 685 patients (541 (79.

Is the BTS/SIGN guideline confusing? A retrospective database analysis of asthma therapy.

Background: The British guideline on the management of asthma produced by the British Thoracic Society (BTS) and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) describes five steps for the management of chronic asthma. Combination therapy of a long acting β2-agonist (LABA) and an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) is recommended as first-line therapy at step 3, although the dose of ICS at which to add a LABA is subject to debate.

Aims: To classify the inhaled therapy prescribed to patients with asthma in NHS Forth Valley according to two interpretations of the BTS/SIGN guideline and to evaluate the use of combination therapy in this population.

Reduced interleukin-18 levels in BAL specimens from patients with asthma compared to patients with sarcoidosis and healthy control subjects.

Study Objectives: To investigate whether differing airway interleukin (IL)-18 levels may be implicated in the pathogenesis of asthma and sarcoidosis.

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Patients And Methods: IL-18 levels were measured in BAL fluid and in the supernatant of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated alveolar macrophages obtained by BAL from 15 patients with sarcoidosis, 11 patients with asthma, and 13 healthy subjects.