title: [Role of non-allergenic bronchial hyperreactivity follow-up studies in the assessment of prognosis of asthma].
abstract: Asthma is affected by increasing mortality and morbidity as well as by increasing costs due to hospitalizations and visits to the emergency room. It is mandatory to propose an accurate follow-up of asthmatic subjects so that they can live a normal life and avoid hospitalizations. Two tools can be used: 1) notification in a diary of daily symptoms; 2) serial assessment of peak expiratory flow rates and FEV1. These methods are widely suggested and interesting. However, several aspects including the compliance of asthmatic subjects with the assessment, remained to be examined. According to cross-sectional studies, serial measurement of non-allergic bronchial responsiveness is significantly related to the clinical and functional severity of asthma. Nevertheless, longitudinal studies do not show a satisfactory correlation. The reason for these discrepancies is unknown. Although other studies are needed to obtain direct information on the severity of bronchial inflammation, the current state of knowledge does not suggest that serial assessment of bronchial responsiveness is sufficiently valid to introduce its routine use in the follow-up of asthmatic subjects.
authors.affiliation: Service de Pneumologie, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cartier
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Malo
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
vernacular_title: Rôle de l'étude de l'hyperréactivité bronchique non allergénique dans l'appréciation du devenir de l'asthme.