Short-term growth in asthmatic children using fluticasone propionate.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Inhaled corticosteroids may reduce short-term growth velocity in asthmatic children and knemometry is the most sensitive tool to detect this short-term growth suppression. STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare lower leg growth velocity, as measured by knemometry, in asthmatic children during and after treatment with inhaled fluticasone propionate (FP), 100 microg twice daily. DESIGN: Nonrandomized open trial. SETTING: University hospital, outpatient clinic for pediatric pulmonology. PATIENTS: Twenty-one asthmatic children (13 boys), aged 6 to 10 years. INTERVENTIONS: Inhalation of FP from a dry powder inhaler, 100 microg, twice daily for 6 weeks, followed by 2 weeks during which only an inhaled beta2-agonist was used on demand (washout). During treatment and washout periods, patients were seen every 2 weeks at the same time of day. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Lower leg growth velocity measured by knemometry during FP treatment was not significantly different from that during washout (p=0.33, one-way analysis of variance). CONCLUSIONS: No significant suppression of lower leg growth velocity was found in prepubertal asthmatic children using FP, 100 microg, by dry powder inhaler twice daily for 6 weeks.