Brief CommunicationA double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of cetirizine in preventing the onset of asthma in children with atopic dermatitis: 18 months' treatment and 18 months' posttreatment follow-up☆,☆☆,★
Section snippets
Methods
The study design is outlined in detail in our previous report.7 In brief, children between 1 and 2 years of age with active symptoms of atopic dermatitis for at least 1 month were considered suitable for enrollment. All the infants had at least one parent or sibling with a history of atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma, or some combination thereof. The diagnosis of atopic dermatitis was based on standard criteria involving a typical eczematous or lichenified dermatitis affecting the
Results
The attrition diagram for the whole investigation period is presented in Fig 1. Data
Discussion
The evaluation of efficacy of cetirizine in preventing or delaying asthma during the 36 months of the study has shown a very similar outcome from that observed after the 18-month treatment period. Although the protective effect in house dust mite–sensitive individuals decreased, it was maintained in those with grass pollen sensitivity. It is striking that once the treatment was stopped, there was no rebound in asthma diagnosis, as was observed in relation to urticaria.12 This emphasizes that
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Cited by (0)
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Supported by UCB Pharma, Brussels, Belgium.
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*The members of the Early Treatment of the Atopic Child (ETAC) Study Group are listed in the Appendix.
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Reprint requests: John O. Warner, MD, FRCPCH, Division of Infection, Inflammation, and Repair, School of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton S016 6YD, United Kingdom.