The effects of treatment in patients with childhood asthma on the elastic properties of the aorta

Abstract

Introduction: The study aimed to investigate the effects of treatment in patients with childhood asthma on the elastic properties of the aorta and cardiovascular risk.

Methods: The study was performed in 66 paediatric patients diagnosed with bronchial asthma (BA). All patients were administered the beta(2) agonist, salbutamol, for seven days, followed by one month of montelukast and six months of inhaled steroid treatment. All patients underwent conventional transthoracic echocardiographic imaging before and after treatment. Aortic elasticity parameters were considered to be the markers of aortic function.

Results: Aortic elasticity parameters, including aortic strain (15.2 +/- 4.8 and 18.8 +/- 9.5%, p = 0.043), aortic distensibility (7.26 +/- 4.71 and 9.53 +/- 3.50 cm(2)/dyn, p = 0.010) and aortic stiffness index (3.2 +/- 0.6 and 2.8 +/- 0.5, p = 0.045 showed significant post-treatment improvement when compared to pre-treatment values. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) was also observed to improve after treatment (1.81 +/- 0.38 and 1.98 +/- 0.43, p = 0.049).

Conclusion: The study demonstrated that when provided at appropriate doses, medications used in BA may result in an improvement in aortic stiffness.