pulmicort and Remission--Spontaneous

Asthmatic children on long-term treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) may exhibit mild adrenal suppression. We aimed to test the hypothesis that baseline adrenal function of some asthmatic children might be lower than that of others and that this difference might be accentuated by ICS therapy.. A low-dose Synacthen test was performed in 41 prepubertal asthmatic children placed on long-term inhaled budesonide (400 microg/day) prior to the onset of ICS treatment, 6 and 12 months later. Five children withdrew before the 6- and another 2 before the 12-month follow-up.. Low adrenal function was demonstrated in 4 children (9.8%) upon recruitment and in another 8 at the 6-month evaluation (22.2%). Adrenal function normalized in the aforementioned 4 children at the 6-month evaluation, while 6 (17.6%) exhibited suppressed adrenal function at the 12-month evaluation. Three of these patients had also exhibited adrenal suppression at the 6-month visit. A significant improvement in peak cortisol values from baseline to the 6- and 12-month evaluation (95% confidence intervals: -283.9 to -69.0 and -239.8 to -50.8, respectively) was evident when children with suppressed adrenal response at the second or third evaluation were excluded.. In many asthmatic children, adrenal response improves on long-term ICS. The expected adrenal suppression of certain patients on maintenance ICS appears to constitute a separate phenomenon.

Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Administration, Oral; Adrenal Insufficiency; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; Asthma; Budesonide; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Female; Growth Hormone; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Immunocompromised Host; Immunosuppressive Agents; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Pituitary-Adrenal System; Prospective Studies; Recovery of Function; Remission, Spontaneous; Steroids; Time; Treatment Outcome

This study observed children with chronic nonspecific isolated cough (NIC) to investigate clinical differences between children whose symptoms resolved spontaneously and those who eventually developed asthma and then explored the differences among the children who eventually developed asthma in terms of their time of response to a trial of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS).. Children with chronic NIC were managed either with a wait-and-review approach or with a 2-week trial with 400 μg/d inhaled budesonide according to the preference of their parents. Responses were monitored with a validated cough score. Treatment was prolonged to 8 weeks in the case of partial responders. All children were followed up at 3-month intervals.. A total of 109 children (median [interquartile range] age, 5 [3.5-9] years; cough duration, [8-16] weeks]) were followed for a mean (± SD) time of 21(± 5) months. Cough did not recur in 71% (spontaneous resolution) but relapsed in 28% of the children who later responded to ICS treatment again (asthma). Aeroallergen sensitization (relative risk, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.17-6.99) and previous history of chronic cough (relative risk, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.10-6.49) increased the risk of asthma. Cough duration, the cough score, the family history of asthma, and serum eosinophilia were not found discriminative for the final diagnosis. There were no differences among children who eventually developed asthma and responded to either the 2-week or 8-week trial in terms of the study parameters.. Chronic NIC does not recur in the majority of children. Initial response to the ICS trial may be misleading but the trial may be preferred for children who have atopic sensitization, a previous history of chronic cough, or both .

Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Adrenal Cortex Hormones; Asthma; Budesonide; Child; Child, Preschool; Chronic Disease; Cough; Disease Progression; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Incidence; Male; Recurrence; Remission, Spontaneous; Risk Factors; Treatment Outcome; Watchful Waiting

Many aspects of microscopic colitis remain poorly understood. Our aim was to report a single centre experience with this condition.. Two hundred and twenty-two patients (52 male, 170 female; median age 64 years; range 32-90) diagnosed between 1993 and 2010 were studied. Medical notes were reviewed, and data on age, gender, clinical features, history of autoimmune diseases, medication use, cigarette smoking, histology and outcome were collected.. There were 99 cases of lymphocytic and 123 of collagenous colitis. Diarrhoea was almost invariably present (98 %) while abdominal pain (24 %), weight loss (10 %), faecal incontinence (8 %) and blood PR (5 %) were also described. Twenty-eight percent had concomitant autoimmune diseases, most commonly coeliac disease. Patients were taking a variety of medications at diagnosis thought to be associated with microscopic colitis including NSAIDs (22 %), aspirin (19 %), statins (15 %), proton pump inhibitors (19 %) and SSRIs (10 %) at diagnosis. Prior to the widespread use of budesonide in our institution, 33 % of patients required two or more medications during therapy compared to 15 % following the introduction of budesonide (p = 0.001). Thirty-eight percent of patients achieved spontaneous remission with either no treatment or simple anti-diarrhoeals. Using a multivariate model, the only factor associated with spontaneous remission was male gender (RR 1.9; 95 % CI 1.0-3.6; p = 0.04). Two patients had refractory microscopic colitis; one required a colectomy while a more recent case has responded to anti-TNFα therapy.. Microscopic colitis is predominantly a benign and self-limiting disorder. The introduction of budesonide has revolutionised treatment of this lesser studied inflammatory bowel disease.

Topics: Abdominal Pain; Aged; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Budesonide; Colitis, Microscopic; Diarrhea; Fecal Incontinence; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Remission, Spontaneous; Retrospective Studies; Treatment Outcome; Weight Loss

Lymphocytic colitis which is more common in women than in men has been associated with autoimmune conditions, and hormones are thought to play a role. The effect of pregnancy on the clinical course of women with lymphocytic colitis has not yet been reported. We describe a case of chronic watery diarrhea in a woman with psoriasis and lymphocytic colitis that has relapsed after successful treatment with budesonide had been stopped before undergoing modern assisted reproductive care. Elevated stool frequencies diminished after in vitro fertilization and remained normal throughout pregnancy when no systemic immunosuppressive therapy was administered and plaque psoriasis slightly worsened under local symptomatic treatment. After preterm birth and early breastfeeding cessation, chronic watery diarrhea, however, recurred. This clinical observation suggests that pregnancy influences the overall course of chronic watery diarrhea of autoimmune-associated microscopic colitis.

Topics: Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Breast Feeding; Budesonide; Cesarean Section; Colitis, Lymphocytic; Diarrhea; Drug Therapy, Combination; Embryo Transfer; Etanercept; Female; Fertilization in Vitro; Humans; Immunoglobulin G; Infant, Newborn; Methylprednisolone; Middle Aged; Obstetric Labor, Premature; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Pregnancy, Multiple; Psoriasis; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; Recurrence; Remission, Spontaneous

Many children with asthma go into long-term clinical remission at adolescence, but bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) persists in some of these subjects. BHR in asthma is characterized by an increase in sensitivity and in maximal airway response to bronchoconstrictor stimuli.. The aims of this study were to compare the profiles of maximal airway response between adolescents with asthma remission and adolescents with symptomatic asthma to a similar degree of airway hypersensitivity, and to determine whether maximal airway response in adolescents with asthma remission is reduced by prolonged treatment with inhaled corticosteroids.. A high-dose methacholine inhalation test was performed in 46 adolescents with long-term asthma remission (remission group) and 44 adolescents with symptomatic asthma (symptomatic group). Subjects exhibiting a maximal response plateau in the remission group were administered inhaled budesonide (400 microg bid, budesonide/remission group, n = 15) or identical placebo (placebo/remission group, n = 15) for 6 months, and the subjects in the symptomatic group were administered the same regimen of budesonide (budesonide/symptomatic group, n = 17). The plateau level was measured after 3 months and 6 months of treatment.. Thirty-four subjects (73.9%) in the remission group featured a maximal response plateau on the dose-response curve to methacholine, whereas 19 subjects (43.2%) in the symptomatic group had a plateau (p = 0.003). In neither the placebo/remission group nor the budesonide/remission group did the plateau level change significantly over the 6-month period, whereas budesonide markedly decreased the level in the budesonide/symptomatic group.. The difference in frequency of detection of a plateau between the remission group and the symptomatic group, as well as the difference in its response to treatment with budesonide between the two groups, suggests that inflammatory changes impact the maximal airway response in symptomatic asthmatic adolescents but not in adolescents with asthma remission.

Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Adolescent; Adrenal Cortex Hormones; Airway Obstruction; Asthma; Bronchial Hyperreactivity; Bronchial Provocation Tests; Budesonide; Case-Control Studies; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume; Humans; Male; Methacholine Chloride; Probability; Prognosis; Reference Values; Remission, Spontaneous; Respiratory Function Tests; Sampling Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; Statistics, Nonparametric