| Abstract: | Forty-nine intractable asthma patients from January 1981 were divided into three groups. Group I consisted of patients still alive after ten years (January 1991) who were receiving decreased doses of steroids or no steroids at all. Group II patients were also alive, but the doses of steroids they were receiving were unchanged. Group III consisted of patients who had died during the ten years. Of the 49 patients, nine were in Group I, 13 in Group II and 17 in Group III. The condition of the other 10 patients was unknown. The mortality rate of the known 39 patients over 10 years was 43.6%, a very high rate. The groups of living patients (I + II) were younger than the patients in the dead group (III) and the latter patients had more obstructive ventilatory dysfunction in the stable state (FEV1.0/FVC%, and %FEV1.0 were 56.1% and 52.8%) in 1980. In the therapy carried out over the 10 years, antiallergic drugs and inhaled steroids were administered in order to decrease oral steroids in both Group I, II and III. In Group I, however, more patients had received immunotherapy (hyposensitization) or gold therapy than in Group II and III. There were more complications due to steroids during the ten years in Group II and III than in Group I. Aging and obstructive ventilatory dysfunction may be factors which worsen the prognosis of intractable asthma, and decreasing of the doses of oral steroids may be important to prevent complications. |
