Prognosis of Asthma in Childhood

Abstract

AVAILABLE literature reveals several pertinent long-term follow-up observations on children affected with asthma. Rackemann and Edwards¹ reported on 449 children seen with asthma and followed up 20 years later. Of these, 52.1% appeared to be "cured" of asthma and another 19.3% had no symptoms as long as they avoided the offending cause. Only 10.9% of the total were still suffering severe asthma. Flensborg² reported that in 131 patients who had reached the age of 18, 41.1% no longer had asthma. Many of these patients suffered from dyspnea on exertion and it is doubtful whether they could really be called asymptomatic. He suggests that some of these patients may have had permanent emphysema or chronic bronchitis. Barr and Logan³ have reported on 336 cases of asthma in children from a follow-up letter 17 to 25 years after the first visit. They found 48% were still wheezing. Of the