Response of patients with chest tightness variant asthma with routine asthma treatment regimen: A 1-year multicenter,...

Asthmatic patients with chest tightness as their only presenting symptom (chest tightness variant asthma [CTVA]) have clinical characteristics of eosinophilic airway inflammation similar to those of classic asthma (CA); however, whether CTVA has similar response to antiasthma treatment as compared with CA remains unclear.

The response of 76 CTVA patients to standard asthma treatments with inhaled corticosteroids with long-acting beta-agonists was explored in a 52-week multicenter, prospective, real-world study.

After 52 weeks of treatment with therapy regimens used for CA, the mean 5-point Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ-5) score decreased markedly from 1.38(first administration) to 0.71 (52 weeks, mean decrease: 0.674, 95%CI: 0.447-0.900, P<.001).The mean asthma quality-of-life questionnaire (AQLQ) score increased from 5.77 (first administration) to 6.20 (52 weeks, mean increase: 0.441, 95% CI 0.258-0.625, P<.001). Furthermore, at week 52, FVC, FEV₁ %, the diurnal variation in PEFand the PD20-FEV₁ were significantly improved. Subgroup analysis revealed that the patients at first administration in the responsive group had higher ACQ-5 scores than those in the nonresponsive group (P < .05).

In conclusion, patients with CTVA had a good therapeutic response to the guideline-recommended routine treatment (containing inhaled corticosteroids). The association between the treatment response and the severity of CTVA suggested that CTVA patients with higher ACQ-5 scores had better therapeutic effects.