Five recent studies involving asthma

Recent asthma studies examined the use of omalizumab as treatment for pregnant women with asthma and the identification of factors for patients at risk for relapse after an ED discharge.

Here are highlights of recent findings presented on Healio.com Allergy/Immunology:

Omalizumab use in pregnancy showed comparable birth results with asthma population

Prevalence of congenital defects, prematurity and low birth weight in infants of mothers treated with omalizumab during pregnancy were comparable with the general population with asthma, according to study results.

Jennifer Namazy

“Asthma affected 8.4% to 8.8% of pregnant women in the United States between 2000 and 2003,” Jennifer Namazy, MD, and colleagues wrote. “Current guidelines recommend that the goal of treatment for all women, pregnant or not, is to provide optimal therapy to maintain disease control while ensuring the safety of the mother and fetus.” Read more

Phenotype clusters identified among elderly patients with asthma

Four elderly asthma phenotypic clusters associated with the risk for future acute asthma exacerbation were defined in a study.

Researchers performed a k-means nonhierarchical cluster analysis of 872 elderly patients with asthma from nine centers in South Korea. Clinical cluster trajectories were evaluated through acute asthma exacerbation data collected during a prospective 2-year follow-up. Read more

Factors identify patients with asthma at risk for relapse after ED discharge

Nearly one in five patients treated for acute asthma at Canadian EDs relapsed within 4 weeks, despite receiving anti-inflammatory treatment at discharge, study data determined.

Researchers studied 807 patients (median age, 30 years; 58% females) who were treated for acute asthma and discharged from 20 EDs. All patients completed an ED interview and a follow-up telephone interview 4 weeks after discharge. Read more

Reduced lung function in infancy linked to asthma at age 8

A cohort of Finnish children who had reduced lung function in infancy were more likely to have had physician-diagnosed asthma or currently have asthma during follow-up at 8 years of age, according to recent data.

Forty-seven of 53 children with impaired lung function originally studied during infancy completed follow-up at a median age of 8.1 years. Physician-diagnosed asthma was present in 39 children (83%), current asthma in 25 (53%) and past asthma in 14 (30%). Read more

Exposure to high-molecular-weight agents influenced occupational asthma, FENO

An increase in fractional exhaled nitric oxide was more strongly associated with occupational asthma caused by high-molecular-weight agents than with low-molecular-weight agents in a recent study.

Catherine Lemiere

Catherine Lemiere, MD, MSc, of the department of chest medicine, Sacré-Coeur Hospital, Montreal, and colleagues conducted a prospective, observational study of 178 adults who underwent specific inhalation challenge from 2006 to 2012 to determine possible occupational asthma. Assessments of fractional exhaled nitric oxide and sputum eosinophil counts were conducted at baseline and 24 hours after SIC. Read more