Impact of an asthma management program on hospitalizations and emergency department visits.

Objectives: To assess the frequency of hospitalizations and emergency department visits of children and adolescents before and after the enrollment in an asthma program.

Methods: Medical records of 608 asthmatics younger than 15 years were assessed retrospectively. The frequency of hospitalizations and emergency department visits caused by exacerbations were evaluated before and after enrollment in an asthma program.

Post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans in children.

Objective: To review publications about the main features of post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans and its history, etiology, epidemiology, risk factors, pathogenesis, histological findings, clinical presentation, complementary tests, diagnostic criteria, differential diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

Sources: Non-systematic review of MEDLINE and LILACS databases and selection of 66 most relevant studies.

Summary Of The Findings: In the post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans there is an insult to respiratory epithelial cells, and its clinical severity is associated with the degree of lesion and inflammation.

Effects of beclomethasone and factors related to asthma on the growth of prepubertal children.

Few studies on the concomitant effects of beclomethasone dipropionate and asthma-related factors on the growth of prepubertal asthmatic children have been published to date. In this prospective long-term 'real-life' cohort study we recruited 82 prepubertal steroid-naïve asthmatic patients aged 3 + years, excluding those with birth weight lower than 2500 g, malnutrition, and other concurrent chronic diseases. Height/age and weight/age Z scores were calculated every three months.

Prevalence of allergic rhinitis and its impact on the use of emergency care services in a group of children and adolescents with moderate to severe persistent asthma.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of allergic rhinitis and the factors associated with the use of emergency care services by children and adolescents with acute asthma submitted to inhaled corticosteroid therapy.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 126 patients treated with beclomethasone dipropionate for 3 years. The factors associated with emergency care services in the third year of beclomethasone dipropionate treatment were assessed using logistic regression models.

Gastroesophageal reflux and asthma in childhood: a study on their relationship using esophageal PH monitoring.

Objectives: This study aims at verifying the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux in asthmatic children, and at determining the sensitivity and specificity of the reflux index for the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Methods: Sixty-nine children, aged 1-5 years, with asthma, were studied by 24-hour pH monitoring. The patients were randomly selected.

Compliance with inhaled corticosteroid treatment: rates reported by guardians and measured by the pharmacy.

Objective: There is elevated morbidity associated with asthma, particularly in developing countries, and failure to comply with inhaled corticosteroid treatment contributes to this morbidity. The objective of this study is to compare rates of compliance with beclomethasone treatment reported by parents or guardians with those measured by pharmacy dispensing records.

Methods: A concurrent cohort study of 12 months' duration was carried out, enrolling 106 asthmatic children and adolescents, selected at random.

Peak expiratory flow monitoring in asthmatic children.

Objective: To correlate forced expiratory volume in 1 second (VEF(1)) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) with clinical parameters in children with moderate and severe asthma.

Methods: This was a non-concurrent cohort study, carried out at a pediatric pneumology clinic, in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, between March and October 2002. The study enrolled children aged 5 to 16 years, with persistent asthma, being treated with a minimum of 500 mcg/day beclomethasone, and with symptoms under control for at least 3 months.

Simultaneous treatment of asthma and allergic rhinitis.

Asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR) form a well-recognized comorbidity. This study aims at assessing the efficacy of nasally inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) in their simultaneous treatment. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 78 allergic rhinitis and asthma patients aged 5-17 years.