This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Montelukast recommended as possible OSA therapy
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Twelve weeks of treatment with oral montelukast eased symptoms of nonsevere obstructive sleep apnea, according to the results of a double-blind randomized, placebo-controlled trial published online this month.
Aviv D. Goldbart, MD, MSc, of the Department of Pediatrics at Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel, and colleagues provided daily oral monteleukast or placebo for 12 weeks to children with obstructive sleep apnea, and then administered questionnaires, polysomnographic studies and radiographs to compare adenoid size before and after therapy. There were 23 children in each group, and the researchers reported that the “obstructive apnea index decreased by more than 50%” in about 65% of the children who were treated with montelukast.
Lewis First
Goldbart and colleagues noted that since obstructive sleep apnea has been linked with “significant cognitive, behavioral, and vascular morbidity,” looking for answers to this problem in the pediatric population is important.
“The results of this study supported the introduction of a leukotriene modifier as a novel, safe, therapeutic alternative for the treatment of children with a nonsevere form of OSA,” the study authors wrote.
In a blog published along with the paper, Pediatrics Editor in Chief Lewis First, MD, wrote: “While we hope to see these results duplicated with an even larger number of patients, this study will certainly encourage such future studies to happen.”
Montelukast is currently indicated for prophylaxis and chronic treatment of asthma in patients aged 12 months and older.
Disclosure: Drs. Goldbart and First report no relevant financial disclosures.
Collapse
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts