Long-term treatment with corticosteroids and ACTH in asthmatic children. I. A pulmonary function study with re-investigation after 5 years.
Twenty-one children aged 6-17 years with severe bronchial asthma and on long-term treatment with corticosteroids and/or ACTH, were studied when they were as symptom-free as possible. They were found to have increased lung volumes and hyperinflation with a high end-expiratory level. The forced expiratory 1-s volume (FEV1) was within +/- 2 SD for healthy children, but the FEV% was significantly decreased, as a sign of sub-clinical bronchial obstruction. Arterial oxygen tensions was within normal limits, except in one patient with clinical signs of bronchial obstruction. On re-examination 5 years later, hyperinflation and sub-clinical obstruction were even more pronounced, despite the fact that the majority of the patients had improved clinically.
D000293:Adolescent; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000375:Aging; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001827:Body Height; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D010100:Oxygen