RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Outgrown asthma does not mean no airways inflammation
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 284
OP 287
DO 10.1183/09031936.02.00882002
VO 19
IS 2
A1 T.J. Warke
A1 P.S. Fitch
A1 V. Brown
A1 R. Taylor
A1 J.D.M. Lyons
A1 M. Ennis
A1 M.D. Shields
YR 2002
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/19/2/284.abstract
AB Although some asthmatic children seem to recover from their asthma, 30–80% develop asthma again in later life. The underlying risk factors are unknown. The hypothesis for this study was that children with apparently outgrown asthma would have underlying airway inflammation. Nonbronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage was performed on normal children (n=35) and children who had wheezed previously (n=35). Eosinophils were raised in the lavage fluid of atopic children who had apparently outgrown asthma (median (interquartile range) 0.36 (0.05–0.74) compared to controls 0.10 (0–0.18), p=0.002). There was no relationship between length of remission and degree of airways eosinophilia. Thus, there is persistent airways inflammation in some children with outgrown asthma and this may be a risk factor for future relapse. This study was supported by the National Asthma Campaign, UK and the Research and Development Office for Northern Ireland.