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Bronchial Thermoplasty: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Severe Asthma
Published on: November 5, 2010
[Bronchial asthma in childhood]
Insights
Childhood asthma, a common chronic respiratory disease, involves inflammation and hyperresponsiveness. Long-term inhaled steroid treatment is increasingly important and shows minimal side effects in children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Allergy and Immunology
- Environmental Health
Context:
- Childhood asthma is the most prevalent chronic illness in pediatric populations.
- Key symptoms include wheezing, dyspnea, and cough, stemming from inflammatory bronchial hyperresponsiveness.
- Allergies and environmental pollution are significant contributing factors to pediatric asthma.
Purpose:
- To define childhood bronchial asthma and its common clinical manifestations.
- To highlight the importance of evaluating obstructive bronchitis in infants and children.
- To discuss the role and safety of long-term inhaled corticosteroid therapy in pediatric asthma management.
Summary:
- Bronchial asthma in children is characterized by inflammatory bronchial hyperresponsiveness, leading to symptoms like wheezing and cough.
- Allergy is a primary cause, with environmental pollution also playing a role.
- Malignant, hypoxemic asthma crises pose a significant mortality risk (0.5-0.8/100,000).
Impact:
- Inhalative steroids are gaining importance for long-term pediatric asthma treatment.
- Studies indicate that clinically relevant side effects from inhaled steroids in children are rare.
- Improved understanding and management strategies can reduce asthma-related morbidity and mortality in children.
Abstract:
Bronchial asthma in childhood is defined as a disease presenting with wheezing, dyspnea and cough on the basis of an inflammatory bronchial hyperreagibility. It is the most common chronic disease in childhood. There are a variety of causes for asthma. Certainly allergy is the most common cause in childhood but also environmental pollution is of importance. Asthmatic attacks, episodes of asthma and asthmatic cough are the most frequent clinical manifestations where as the malignant, hypoxemic asthma crisis is of special importance since its mortality is as high as 0.5-0.8/100,000. Special notice has to be taken on the evaluation of obstructive bronchitis in infancy and childhood which might be very difficult. During the past years, the use of inhalative steroids in the long term treatment has gained increasing importance also in childhood, since it could be demonstrated that side effects of clinical relevance are hardly to be expected.
Related Concept Videos
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01:29Asthma-I: Introduction
01:26Asthma-II: Pathophysiology and Classification
Additionally, environmental and genetic factors play crucial roles in determining an individual's susceptibility to asthma and the severity of their condition.
Critical processes in asthma pathophysiology include:
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01:13Asthma III: Clinical Manifestations
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