Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Current issue
  • ERJ Early View
  • Past issues
  • Authors/reviewers
    • Instructions for authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Open access
    • COVID-19 submission information
    • Peer reviewer login
  • Alerts
  • Podcasts
  • Subscriptions
  • ERS Publications
    • European Respiratory Journal
    • ERJ Open Research
    • European Respiratory Review
    • Breathe
    • ERS Books
    • ERS publications home

User menu

  • Log in
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
  • ERS Publications
    • European Respiratory Journal
    • ERJ Open Research
    • European Respiratory Review
    • Breathe
    • ERS Books
    • ERS publications home

Login

European Respiratory Society

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Current issue
  • ERJ Early View
  • Past issues
  • Authors/reviewers
    • Instructions for authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Open access
    • COVID-19 submission information
    • Peer reviewer login
  • Alerts
  • Podcasts
  • Subscriptions

Combination therapy with maintenance budesonide and formoterol in COPD

  1. A.R.L. Medford
  1. Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, UK

To the Editors:

Calverley et al. 1 provide further evidence for combination therapy with inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting β-agonists in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as maintenance therapy. In addition, a previous study, also confirming such benefit, showed an advantage for monotherapy with fluticasone in reducing exacerbations 2. The study by Calverley et al. 1 did not show a benefit for budesonide monotherapy in exacerbation reductions. Does monotherapy with inhaled steroids reduce exacerbations in severe COPD?

The conclusion that “additional clinical benefit when combined in a single inhaler” would surely be further strengthened by assessing the effectiveness of the fixed-dose single inhaler combination against the same drugs in separate inhalers? As there are sound cellular reasons for combining these two classes of drug 3, would there not be a potential advantage in the use of these two drugs as separate inhalers to allow greater dose flexibility, although this is of greater relevance in asthma? Or, if fixed-dose combinations are superior to separate inhalers taken together, then would this also be an important finding to favour the former?

  • Received July 6, 2004.
  • Accepted July 14, 2004.
  • © ERS Journals Ltd

References

  1. Calverley PM, Boonsawat W, Cseke Z, Zhong N, Peterson S, Olsson H. Maintenance therapy with budesonide and formoterol in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Eur Respir J 2003;22:912–919.
  2. Calverley P, Pauwels R, Vestbo J, et al. Combined salmeterol and fluticasone in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2003;361:449–456.
  3. Barnes PJ. Scientific rationale for inhaled combination therapy with long-acting beta2-agonists and corticosteroids. Eur Respir J 2002;19:182–191.

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current issue
  • Archive

About the ERJ

  • Journal information
  • Editorial board
  • Reviewers
  • Press
  • Permissions and reprints
  • Advertising

The European Respiratory Society

  • Society home
  • myERS
  • Privacy policy
  • Accessibility

ERS publications

  • European Respiratory Journal
  • ERJ Open Research
  • European Respiratory Review
  • Breathe
  • ERS books online
  • ERS Bookshop

Help

  • Feedback

For authors

  • Instructions for authors
  • Publication ethics and malpractice
  • Submit a manuscript

For readers

  • Alerts
  • Subjects
  • Podcasts
  • RSS

Subscriptions

  • Accessing the ERS publications

Contact us

European Respiratory Society
442 Glossop Road
Sheffield S10 2PX
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 114 2672860
Email: journals@ersnet.org

ISSN

Print ISSN:  0903-1936
Online ISSN: 1399-3003

Copyright © 2022 by the European Respiratory Society