Asthma in Children Best Treated With Inhaled Steroids

A study that for the first time compared several medications available to help children maintain asthma control recommends inhaled steroids, supporting the current clinical guidelines.

Researchers from the clinical science center at the University of Wisconsin (Madison, USA), part of the childhood asthma research and education network of the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI; Bethesda, MD, USA) conducted the pediatric asthma controller trial (PACT) that compared the effectiveness of three regimens in achieving asthma control in 285 children ages 6–14 years with mild to moderate persistent asthma. The regimens were a low dose inhaled corticosteroid (200 µg fluticasone a day), a combination of a lower dose inhaled corticosteroid, and an inhaled long acting beta-2 agonist (100 mcg fluticasone each morning plus 50 µg salmeterol twice daily), and a leukotriene receptor antagonist (montelukast).

Outcomes included asthma control days (primary outcome), exacerbations, humanistic measurements, and pulmonary function measurements. The researchers found that after 48 weeks, inhaled corticosteroids were the most effective initial daily therapy for children with mild to moderate persistent asthma. They also found no significant adverse growth effects among any of the medicines studied. The results were published in the January 2007 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI).

"The PACT study findings favor fluticasone monotherapy in treating children with mild-moderate persistent asthma, confirming current guideline recommendations,” concluded Dr. Christine A. Sorkness, Pharm.D., a professor of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin, and colleagues.



Related Links:
University of Wisconsin
U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute