[Antileukotrienes. Their use in pediatrics]. / Antileucotrienos. Su uso en pediatría.

The leukotriene antagonists have represented the first novelty in the treatment of asthma over the last 20 years. Their easy oral administration that favours a suitable completion of the treatment, especially on children, together with the proven efficiency and their apparent safety, gave rise to the fact in 1999 the asthma committee of the Spanish Society of Clinical Immunology and Paediatric Allergology (SSCIPA) in the bronchial asthma treatment guide that was presented a year ago during the XXIII National Congress of our Society, considered the antileukotrienes, together with the chromones, as important medicines for stage 2 asthma (frequent episodes) and as useful medicines to reduce the need to take corticoides in cases of persistent asthma. A year later, in our study we proposed to value too suitability or non suitability of this positioning, in the light of the new investigations published and from our own experience. We believe that the bibliography available to date shows that the agonist cysteinyl-leukotrienes are anti-inflammatory medicines, that have an efficiency similar to that of low doses of inhaled corticoids, equally efficient in controlling bronchospasm-induced exercise and they have a good safety profile. We present two studies that are the result of our own experience, one carried out on children with persistent asthma and the other on children with frequent episodic asthma, from which we can apparently deduce that both nedocromil (2 inhalations every 8 hours) and montelukast (5 mg every 24 hours) are medicines that have similar efficacy in the control of asthma. We conclude that the antileukotrienes, together with the chromones, should be seen as important medicines when treating infant asthma.

Antileucotrienos. Su uso en pediatría / Antileukotrienes. Their use in pediatrics

Los antagonistas de los leucotrienos han supuesto la primera novedad en el tratamiento del asma en los últimos 20 años. Su fácil administración por vía oral que favorece un adecuado cumplimiento del tratamiento, sobre todo en niños, junto a su eficacia demostrada y su aparente seguridad hicieron que en 1999 el comité de asma de la Sociedad Española de Inmunología Clínica y Alergología Pediátrica (SEICAP) en la guía de tratamiento del asma bronquial que se presentó hace un año en el XXIII congreso nacional de nuestra sociedad situó a los antileucotrienos, junto con las cromonas, como fármacos de primera línea en el asma en estadio dos (episódico frecuente), y como fármacos útiles para la reducción de la necesidad de corticoides en los asmas persistentes. Doce meses después nos proponemos en este trabajo valorar la conveniencia o inconveniencia de dicha situación, a la luz de los nuevos trabajos publicados y de nuestra propia experiencia. Creemos que con la bibliografía hasta ahora disponible queda demostrado que los fármacos agonistas de los cisteinil-leucotrienos son fármacos antiinflamatorios, con una eficacia similar a dosis bajas de corticoides inhalados, eficaces asimismo en el control del broncoespasmo inducido por ejercicio y con un buen perfil de seguridad. Presentamos dos trabajos fruto de nuestra propia experiencia, uno en niños con asma persistente y otros en niños con asma episódica frecuente, en los que parece deducirse que tanto el nedocromil (2 inh/8 horas) como el montelukast (5 mg/24 horas) son fármacos de eficacia similar en el control del asma. Concluimos que los antileucotrienos, junto con las cromonas, deberían ser vistos como fármacos de primera línea en el tratamiento del asma infantil (AU)

The leukotriene antagonists have represented the first novelty in the treatment of asthma over the last 20 years. Their easy oral administration that favours a suitable completion of the treatment, especially on children, together with the proven efficiency and their apparent safety, gave rise to the fact in 1999 the asthma committee of the Spanish Society of Clinical Immunology and Paediatric Allergology (SSCIPA) in the bronchial asthma treatment guide that was presented a year ago during the XxiII National Congress of our Society, considered the antileukotrienes, together with the chromones, as important medicines for stage 2 asthma (frequent episodes) and as useful medicines to reduce the need to take corticoides in cases of persistent asthma. A year later, in our study we proposed to value the suitability or non suitability of this positioning, in the light of the new investigations published and from our own experience. We believe that the bibliography available to date shows that the agonist cysteinyl-leukotrienes are anti-inflammatory medicines, that have an efficiency similar to that of low doses of inhaled corticoids, equally efficient in controlling bronchospasm-induced exercise and they have a good safety profile. We present two studies that are the result of our own experience, one carried out on children with persistent asthma and the other on children with frequent episodic asthma, from which we can apparently deduce that both nedocromil (2 inhalations every 8 hours) and montelukast (5 mg every 24 hours) are medicines that have similar efficacy in the control of asthma. We conclude that the antileukotrienes, together with the chromones, should be seen as important medicines when treating infant asthma (AU)