Intra-nasal beclomethasone dipropionate in vasomotor rhinitis

Twenty-one patients with vasomotor rhinitis, with no relevant allergens known, completed a special double-blind trial of beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol (BDA) and placebo intra-nasally. Each patient took 200, 400 and 800 mug BDA and placebo during four consecutive 2-week periods and in different sequences. The symptom scores of the last week of each period of nasal blockage, watery secretion and sneezing were significantly reduced by all doses of BDA as compared with placebo. There were no differences between the effects of the different doses of BDA except for secretion, which was reduced more by using 800 than 200 mug. Cortisol in serum and 17-hydroxycorticosteroids in 24-hour urine were not significantly changed by BDA treatment and no increased frequency of pathogenic bacteria or fungi could be demonstrated in the nasal secretion. For treatment of patients with vasomotor rhinitis, intra-nasal BDA in a daily dose of 200 mug can be recommended when antihistamines, sympathomimetic drugs and sodium cromoglycate are not sufficiently effective.