The study of severe asthma in Latin America and Spain (1994-2004): characteristics of patients hospitalized with acute severe asthma.

Objective: Studies assessing the characteristics and management of patients hospitalized with asthma have been limited to a small number of facilities and have evaluated short time periods. The present study evaluated long-term changes among hospitalized asthma patients at a large number of facilities.

Methods: This was a retrospective, hospital-based observational case series, designated the Study of Severe Asthma in Latin America and Spain, which was conducted in Spain and in eight Latin-American countries.

Factors associated with mortality in patients hospitalized in Spain and Latin America for acute severe asthma in 1994, 1999, and 2004.

Objective: To evaluate, for the first time, the characteristics of patients with acute asthma who died during hospitalization in Spain and Latin America, as well as to evaluate factors associated with asthma mortality.

Methods: A retrospective review of hospital records of 3,038 patients with asthma (aged 15-69 years) admitted to nineteen tertiary care hospitals in Spain and in eight Latin-American countries in 1994, 1999, and 2004.

Results: There were 25 deaths (0.

[Inhaled corticosteroids in the treatment of asthma exacerbations: essential concepts].

The use of systemic corticosteroids reduces hospitalizations in patients suffering an asthma attack and improves lung function within 6 to 12 hours of administration. However, despite the considerable body of positive evidence published in the last decade, doubts remain in regard to the effectiveness of inhaled corticosteroids. Analysis of this evidence has been cursory; crucial data on the mechanism of action of corticosteroids have been overlooked and there has been a failure to distinguish between antiinflammatory effects and so-called nongenomic effects.