Open AccessDifficult to treatment asthma, is it really asthma? Is it really difficult?
Author(s) -
Mohamed Amin,
Assem Fouad,
Esam Gad El-rab
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
egyptian journal of chest diseases and tuberculosis/egyptian journal of chest diseases and tuberculosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2090-9950
pISSN - 0422-7638
DOI - 10.1016/j.ejcdt.2013.10.009
Subject(s) - medicine , asthma , intensive care medicine , sort , inhaled corticosteroids , identification (biology) , botany , biology , computer science , information retrieval
With the judicious use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and B2 agonists most patients with asthma are easily controlled and managed. However, approximately 5–10% of asthmatics did not respond to standard therapy and are classified as “difficult to treat asthma, DTA”. Many factors can contribute to poor response to conventional therapy. For these patients, a systematic approach is needed to identify false (non-genuine) DTA from true (genuine) intractable DTA. It is essential to sort through and address the above issues before reverting to other therapy.Objectives: The aim of the present study is to evaluate a systematic approach to indentify the patients of false (non-genuine) to true (genuine) DTA and to recognize the underlying different precipitating factors.Conclusion: In apparently DTA there is a high prevalence of false (non-genuine) cases. Identification and management can be achieved by detailed systematic assessment