Effectiveness of the anticholinergic agent oxitropium bromide in elderly patients with bronchial asthma

The short-term and long-term effects of the anticholinergic agent oxitropium bromide (CAS 30286-75-0, OTB) were studied in nine elderly patients with bronchial asthma (8 men and 1 women, age: 69.5 +/- 5.2 years, 3 atopic and 6 (not atopic cases). 2 h after inhalation of 0.8 mg of OTB, forced vital capacity (FVC) had increased from 2.28 +/- 0.22 1 to 2.87 +/- 0.27 1 (p < 0.01), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) had increased from 1.22 +/- 0.14 to 1.57 +/- 0.16 1 (p < 0.01), and respiratory resistance (Rrs) had decreased from 5.9 +/- 0.8 cmH2O/l/s to 4.9 +/- 0.7 cmH2O/l/s (p < 0.05). The patients inhaled OTB (0.2 mg t.i.d.) for 6 weeks. Their peak expiratory flow rates, measured each morning and each evening, increased significantly during the first 2 weeks of administration, and the increase was sustained for the entire weeks (p < 0.05). Other pulmonary-function tests were done before drug administration and again at the end of the 6 weeks. By the end of the 6th week of OTB administration, FVC had increased from 2.30 +/- 0.22 1 to 2.99 +/- 0.26 1 (p < 0.01), and FEV1 had increased from 1.25 +/- 0.17 to 1.70 +/- 0.22 1 (p < 0.05). These data indicate that OTB can be useful in the treatment of elderly patients with bronchial asthma.