Efficacy of salmeterol in the treatment of childhood asthma

The aim of the clinical study reported here was to investigate the efficacy of salmeterol, a new long-acting selective β2-agonist, in patients with bronchial asthma. Twenty-four children with moderate asthma were enrolled in the longitudinal study, consisting of a run-in period of 2 weeks followed by a treatment period of 4 weeks. Maintenance treatment consisted of inhaled corticosteroid and disodium cromoglycate, or both, at the same daily dose throughout the study. During the run-in period, the patients continued to inhale salbutamol when needed and some of them (37%) also received theophylline. They were subsequently treated with salmeterol 50 μg twice daily and prn salbutamol for 4 weeks. Efficacy was evaluated using symptom scores and pulmonary function tests including forced vital capacity parameters, pulmonary volumes, airway resistance and specific airway conductance that were measured sensitively by a whole body plethysmograph. As a result, salmeterol produced significant improvement in morning and evening peak expiratory flow rates, vital capacity, airway resistance, conductance and asthma symptoms versus salbutamol and theophylline. Adverse reactions were judged to be mild and few.