激素抵抗性哮喘的研究进展

支气管哮喘的本质是气道慢性非特异性炎症,肾上腺糖皮质激素抗炎治疗已成为哮喘现代治疗的主要方法。但约5%-10%的患者对激素治疗不敏感而成为难治性哮喘,这种对激素治疗效果较差的哮喘被称为“激素抵抗性哮喘”（steroid-resistant asthma,SRA）。其发生机制不明,可能与糖皮质激素受体β、基因表达和热休克蛋白异常等有关,免疫和非免疫治疗可以改善哮喘症状。     

Allergen avoidance in the secondary and tertiary prevention of allergic diseases: does it work?

Although allergen avoidance is widely recommended as part of a secondary and tertiary prevention strategy for allergic diseases, a clear-cut demonstration of its effectiveness is still lacking. Ongoing observational secondary prevention cohorts show that sensitisation to mite can be prevented in the short term by allergen avoidance measures, but further follow-up of these children is needed to show if this effect can be sustained, as well as to ascertain its impact on allergic disease. More well-designed trials are still required before we can give any conclusive advice to our patients. Considering the management of allergy, current evidence suggests that interventions in children (either single or multifaceted) may be associated with some beneficial effect on asthma control, but no conclusive evidence exists regarding rhinitis or eczema. Conversely, there is little evidence to support the recommendation of allergen avoidance methods in adults with asthma and rhinitis. There is a need for an adequately designed trial assessing the effects of a multifaceted intervention in this age group.     

Characteristics of Acute Asthma Patients Attended Frequently Compared with Those Attended Only Occasionally in an Emergency Department

Asthma patients that depend on emergency department (ED) services are generally considered to have extremely poor disease control and prognosis. It is important to identify characteristics related to poor disease control and frequent visits to the ED to apply appropriate clinical management. This study comprised a cross-sectional survey of consecutive patients with asthma exacerbation (age ≥12 years) presenting at the adult ED of a large, tertiary care, university-affiliated hospital over a 2-month period. The frequent visitors (FV) were defined by ≥3 visits to the ED in the preceding year, and the occasional visitors (OV) by ≤2 visits. Eighty-six patients (61 females and 25 males) were included in the study (mean age 38 ± 18 years). Of these patients, 51.2% were FV and 48.8% were OV. Sixty-nine percent had annual income lower than A$3000 and 66.3% had ≤8 years of the formal education. Only 18.6% had used inhaled corticosteroids, 79.1% identified the asthma attack severity, 70.9% increased or initiated inhaled β-agonist, 20.9% increased or initiated steroid therapy, and 55.8% had an asthma action plan for attack. The number of hospital admissions in past year (OR 4.3, P = .02), use of home nebulizer (OR 3.6, P = .05) and the lack of a written asthma action plan (OR 3.3, P = .03) were independently associated with frequent visits to the ED. We conclude that a substantial proportion of the patients that visit the ED are FV. These patients are more likely to have hospital admission in the past year, to use a home nebulizer, and to lack a written asthma action plan. They should be considered the most important target for asthma education.     

Association Between Outpatient Follow-Up and Pediatric Emergency Department Asthma Visits

Background. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) guidelines recommend that patients receive a follow-up outpatient asthma visit after being discharged from an emergency department (ED) for asthma. Objective. To measure the frequency of follow-up outpatient asthma visits and its association with repeat ED asthma visit. Design. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children with asthma using claims data from a university-based managed care organization from 01 1998 to 10 2000. We performed a multivariate survival analysis using Cox proportional hazards model to determine the effect of follow-up outpatient asthma visits on the likelihood of a repeat ED asthma visit, after controlling for severity of illness, patient age, gender, insurance, and the specialty of the primary care provider. Results: A total of 561 children had 780 ED asthma visits. Of these, 103 (17%) had a repeat ED asthma visit within 1 year. Almost two-thirds of children (66%) did not receive outpatient follow-up for asthma within 30 days of an ED asthma visit. Outpatient asthma visits within 30 days of an ED asthma visit are associated with an increased likelihood (relative risk = 1.80; 95% confidence interval 1.19, 2.72) for repeat ED asthma visits within 1 year. Conclusions. Most patients do not have outpatient follow-up after an ED asthma visit. However, those patients that present for outpatient follow-up have an increased likelihood for repeat ED asthma visits. For the primary care provider, these outpatient follow-up visits signal an increased risk that a patient will return to the ED for asthma and are a key opportunity to prevent future ED asthma visits.     

某社区老年人支气管哮喘流行病学调查

目的　了解社区老年人支气管哮喘的患病情况 ,为哮喘防治奠定基础。　方法　采用整群抽样 ,对南海市桂城社区 2 481名 60岁以上老年人进行哮喘的流行病学调查。　结果　确诊老年人哮喘 98例 ,患病率为 3 .95 % (男4.91%、女 2 .92 % ) ,男性高于女性 (P <0 .0 5 ) ;工业区老年人哮喘的患病率高于文化区 (患病率分别为 5 .12 %、3 .2 6% ,P<0 .0 5 ) ;有遗传家族史者 45例 ,占 45 .92 % ;78%的患者发病年龄 >14岁 ;诱发因素前 3位分别是上呼吸道感染、气候变化和刺激性气体 ;合并COPD2 5例 ,占 2 5 .5 1%。　结论　老年人哮喘是不容忽视的疾病 ,需加强对社区哮喘的管理和教育。     

脉冲振荡技术在儿童支气管舒张试验中的应用

目的：探讨脉冲振荡方法(IOS)在儿童支气管舒张试验中的应用及其与常规肺量计法结果的相关关系。方法：发作期的哮喘患儿同时应用两种方法做吸入支气管扩张剂前后肺功能测定，以FEV1改善≥15％判断为阳性，应用统计学处理对两种方法各指标作相关性分析。结果：IOS各指标舒张后改善明显，△Zrs、△R5与金标准△FEV1密切相关，经多元回归得出方程△FEV1=-1．527△Zrs 0．883△R5。结论：IOS法可以作为不能配合用力呼气动作的儿童行支气管舒张试验。     

卡介苗对哮喘豚鼠的影响

目的 研究卡介苗对哮喘豚鼠的防治作用。方法 24只豚鼠随机分为阳性对照组、地塞米松组、卡介苗组及阴性对照组,每组6只,除阴性对照组用生理盐水外,其余三组每只腹腔内注射鸡卵蛋白100mg,2周后用1％鸡卵蛋白激发致敏,每次30min,每日1次,持续3d,地塞米松组每次激发前肌注地塞米松2mg/kg,卡介苗组每次激发前肌往卡介苗30mg/kg,阳性对照组每次激发前30min肌注生理盐水2ml,最后用乌拉坦麻醉,检验动脉血气分析参数,嗜酸粒细胞(EOS)计数等参数,所有参数用t检验或卡方检验分析。结果 阳性对照组与其它三组比较,在豚鼠的发病程度、动脉血气分析、外周血EOS计数、支气管肺泡灌洗液中EOS计数、支气管病理切片每20个高倍视野EOS计数均有明显差异(P<0.05或P<0.01)。结论 卡介苗能够抑制动物模型中的哮喘反应。     

2000年北京城区儿童哮喘患病情况调查分析

目的了解北京儿童哮喘的患病率、发病规律及影响因素,并进行10年前后的对比研究.方法采取整群抽样调查方法,按照10年前的调查范围,在北京市朝阳区及西城区2～4个街区内,向家长发放初筛问卷,筛选出相关疾病的可疑患者,再经哮喘中心医师统一问诊查体,填写调查表.所有数据经sas/pc统计软件分析.结果实际调查人数10 163人,2年内有喘息发作的哮喘现患率为2.05%,男女患病率分别为2.80%及1.24%,既往有哮喘的累计患病率为2.69%.性别、首次发作年龄、呼吸道感染、过敏及遗传因素与哮喘发作有关.早期正确诊断及应用吸入治疗的比率仍较低.对比1990年哮喘现患率的0.78%,2000年哮喘现患率是10年前的2.6倍.结论本次调查0～14岁儿童哮喘的患病率较10年前显著升高,且主要发生于学龄期.哮喘发作受诸多因素的影响,目前按GINA方案在哮喘的规范化治疗上仍有明显差距.     

Comparison of Sputum and Serum Eosinophil Cationic Protein (ECP) Levels in Nonatopic Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether sputum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) concentrations could be a useful marker in the differential diagnosis between intrinsic asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For this purpose total blood eosinophil counts were obtained and concentrations of serum and sputum ECP from 10 nonatopic asthmatics with a mild attack and 9 COPD patients with acute exacerbation were measured by radioimmunoassay. Mean serum ECP concentration was 54.3 ± 23.0 g/L in the asthmatic group and 83.3 ± 79.2 g/L in the COPD group (p: n.s.). In the group of asthmatics mean sputum ECP level was 984.5 ± 1245.5 mg/L/g sputum and in the COPD group it was 417.5 ± 363.5 mg/L/g sputum. There was no significant difference in sputum ECP levels between patients with asthma and COPD. We conclude that neither sputum nor serum ECP levels are useful markers in differential diagnosis of asthma attack and acute exacerbation of COPD.