Normal pulmonary function measurements and airway reactivity in childhood after mild bronchiolitis.

Concern about the long-term sequelae of bronchiolitis has been raised through studies of children hospitalized for bronchiolitis, but the long-term sequelae of mild bronchiolitis have not been studied. We assessed the hypothesis that 25 children with mild bronchiolitis (index subjects) were at greater risk for abnormalities of pulmonary function or airway reactivity to cold air between the ages of 8 and 12 years than were randomly selected, matched controls. There were no consistent differences in pulmonary function or airway reactivity between index and control groups. Airway hyperreactivity was found in five control subjects and three index subjects, and all children with symptomatic asthma were identified by cold air challenge. Our data suggest that children with a history of mild bronchiolitis are not at increased risk between ages 8 and 12 years for airway hyperreactivity or for abnormalities in pulmonary function.

Prevention and therapy of serous otitis media by oral decongestant: a double-blind study in pediatric practice.

We studied the efficacy of (1) preventing the development of serous otitis media (SOM) by using an oral decongestant in children with acute otitis media and (2) treating SOM with an oral decongestant. In a randomized double-blind study, 190 children were treated for acute otitis media with antibiotics and either pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (Sudafed) or placebo. They were evaluated two weeks later by tympanometry and (independently) by clinical evaluation and pneumotoscopy. There were no significant differences between the two groups, except that males developed SOM significantly more often than did females. Use of decongestant and placebo was continued in 78 patients with SOM for up to four more weeks. Again, there were no siginificant differences between the treatment groups except that patients with an allergic history did significantly worse using a decongestant. Overall there was no benefit from pseudoephedrine in either the prevention or treatment of SOM.