Publications by authors named "MariaLaura Bartoli"
Objective: To evaluate the potential determinants of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) decline in workers with occupational asthma (OA) still exposed to the causative agent. We hypothesised that sputum eosinophilia might be a predictor of poor asthma outcome after diagnosis.
Setting, Design And Participants: In a specialistic clinical centre of the University Hospital of Pisa, we studied 39 participants (28 M, 11 F) diagnosed as having OA, routinely followed up between 1990 and 2009.
Background And Objective: Symptomatic, steroid-naïve asthmatic patients may have low sputum eosinophil numbers. The aim of the study was to determine whether low sputum eosinophil numbers persisted over time, during treatment with salmeterol monotherapy.
Methods: Forty steroid-naïve, symptomatic asthmatic patients, with sputum eosinophils <3%, were randomized to receive open-label salmeterol (50 µg twice a day, n = 30) or fluticasone (125 µg twice a day, n = 10) and were then assessed at 1, 3 and 6 months.
Background: The effect of corticosteroids on the ozone (O3)-induced airway inflammation is still debated.
Objective: The aim of the study was to confirm the effect of a short-term treatment with oral glucocorticosteroids on O3-induced airway inflammation, detected by induced sputum analysis, and on functional response in glucocorticosteroid-naive subjects.
Methods: A randomized, placebo-controlled study using oral prednisone (25 mg o.
Background: The prognostic role of low sputum eosinophils in steroid-naïve, symptomatic asthmatic patients is controversial.
Aim: To verify whether low sputum eosinophils predict poor response to treatment with inhaled corticosteroids.
Methods: Sixty-seven symptomatic asthmatic patients with moderate asthma were examined before and after 2 weeks and 4 weeks of treatment with beclomethasone dipropionate, 500 microg bid.