One-day systemic corticosteroid administration for asthma and future "short bursts" risk in real clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE: Systemic corticosteroid administration, also called short bursts (SB), is harmful for patients with asthma; however, the actual burden of one-day SB remains unsolved. This study aimed to elucidate the characteristics of patients requiring one-day SB against asthma in clinical practice. METHODS: Consecutive patients who regularly visited our hospital for asthma treatment between January 2019 and December 2020 were reviewed and followed for one year. SB was defined as ≥3 days of systemic corticosteroid treatment for an exacerbation. One-day SB was defined as one-day of systemic corticosteroid to treat an exacerbation. The one-day SB group included patients who received only one-day SB but no SB during the preceding year. Frequent SB was defined as that occurring ≥2 times/year. RESULTS: Data on 229 patients were analyzed. Among them, 2.6% (95% confidence interval 1.2-5.6%) were in the one-day SB group. The one-day SB group was female-dominant, obese, non-eosinophilic, and non-atopic. The median one-day SB was 1.5 times/year and almost half of one-day SB were performed by patients themselves. Independent of the low pulmonary function, high blood eosinophil count, and inhaled corticosteroid dose, one-day SB was associated with future frequent SB (adjusted odds ratio = 18.2, 95% confidence interval 1.1-288, P = 0.040, compared to the no SB group). CONCLUSIONS: Although one-day SB was not frequently experienced, even one-day SB without conventional SB was associated with future frequent SB. It is important to grasp the actual condition of one-day SB and to reinforce the treatment used.

Prevalence and characteristics of disinhibition during bronchoscopy with midazolam.

BACKGROUND: Disinhibition is sometimes experienced during bronchoscopy with sedation. However, data on disinhibition during bronchoscopy are scarce. We examined the prevalence and characteristics of disinhibition during bronchoscopy with midazolam. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed consecutive patients who underwent bronchoscopy between November 2019 and December 2020. The severity of disinhibition was defined as follows: mild, disinhibition sometimes requiring restraints by assistants; moderate, disinhibition always requiring restraints by assistants; and severe, disinhibition requiring antagonization of sedation by flumazenil to continue bronchoscopy. RESULTS: Among 251 eligible patients who were sedated using midazolam, 36 (14.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10.5%-19.2%), 42 (16.7%; 95% CI, 12.6%-21.8%), and 7 (2.8%; 95% CI, 1.4%-5.6%) experienced mild, moderate, and severe disinhibition, respectively. Depression (odds ratio [OR] 2.77; 95% CI, 1.20-6.41), endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) (OR 10.23; 95% CI, 1.02-103.01, referred to brushing/bronchial washing/observation), and increased administration of midazolam (OR 1.20; 95% CI, 1.02-1.42, per 1-mg increase) were independently associated with moderate-to-severe disinhibition. Patients experiencing moderate disinhibition reported significantly better scores for discomfort during bronchoscopy. Besides the maximum systolic and diastolic blood pressures during bronchoscopy, the changes in hemodynamic and respiratory statuses during bronchoscopy or complications did not significantly differ between patients experiencing moderate-to-severe disinhibition and those experiencing none-to-mild disinhibition. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate-to-severe disinhibition occurred in 19.5% of patients during bronchoscopy with midazolam. We should focus on disinhibition when patients have depression or are planning to undergo EBUS-TBNA, and sparing the administration of midazolam might reduce the occurrence of disinhibition. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN000038571.

Characteristics of patients with frequent systemic corticosteroid bursts for asthma in real clinical practice: are there frequent "short bursts?"

OBJECTIVE: The data on intermittent systemic corticosteroid therapy for asthma exacerbation, clinically called a "short burst," is limited. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of patients with frequent systemic corticosteroid bursts for asthma in real clinical practice. METHODS: Consecutive patients who regularly visited our hospital for asthma treatment between January 2019 and December 2020 were reviewed. The number of systemic corticosteroid bursts during the past 1 year was collected, and those with frequent bursts (≥2 times/year) were defined as the Frequent group. RESULTS: Data on 236 patients were analyzed. Among them, 5.5% (95% confidence interval 3.2-9.2%) were in the Frequent group. In the Frequent group, 23% of patients had no unplanned visits, and 38% experienced at least one corticosteroid burst without visiting a physician (self-medication). One-third of patients did not undertake high-dose inhaled corticosteroid treatment, and three-fourths of patients did not undertake long-acting muscarinic antagonist treatment. Low pulmonary function and increased blood eosinophils were independently associated with the Frequent group (adjusted odds ratio = 0.73, 95% confidence interval 0.55-0.99, P = 0.039, per 10% predicted increase in a forced expiratory volume in 1 s; adjusted odds ratio = 1.15, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.29, P = 0.025, per 100/µL increase in blood eosinophils). CONCLUSIONS: There was a certain rate of frequent corticosteroid bursts in real clinical practice. It is important to determine the actual condition, as some patients experienced "hidden" frequent bursts and have the option to reinforce the treatment.