Beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol in the treatment of steroid-dependent asthmatic patients. An assessment of 18 months of therapy.

Twenty-nine of 33 steroid-dependent asthmatic patients received 18 months of therapy with beclomethasone dipropionate. Only four of 29 subjects required concurrent oral therapy with steroids. Twenty-six of 29 patients noted a marked improvement in their asthma; three of 29 described an indeterminate response. A statistically significant improvement in many of the symptoms, the plasma cortisol level, the first-second forced expiratory volume, and the forced expiratory flow at 50 percent of the observed forced vital capacity was present only at the end of three months of therapy with beclomethasone dipropionate. Steroid-withdrawal symptoms, particularly those related to the nose and sinuses, were initially troublesome but decreased with the passage of time. No oropharyngeal fungal infections were observed. At a dose below the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal suppressive level, therapy with beclomethasone dipropionate appears to be safe and effective for treating patients with steroid-dependent asthma.