Posted on July 3, 2008 by Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese
Albuterol nebulization often used to treat acute asthma attacks has been shown to increase cardiac risks in children. Via
Family Practice News:
The team speculated that myocardial injury may be due to excessive stimulation of β receptors, perhaps in combination with genetic predisposition to myocardial injury associated with that mechanism.
“We recommend that children receiving continuous albuterol nebulization (10–15 mg/hr or more) for more than 2 hours be closely monitored for evidence of myocardial injury and diastolic hypotension,” Dr. Fagbuyi Dr. Daniel Fagbuyi, a fellow in pediatric emergency medicine said during his oral presentation.
In response to questions from the audience, he acknowledged that much thought went into using the term “myocardial injury” to describe the effect of elevated ST segments or troponin elevations.
“We expected scientists would question whether our measurements reflected true myocardial injury, but our data clearly show that caution is appropriate when using continuous nebulized albuterol,” he said.
A careful review of the literature contains sufficient evidence that those markers correlated with actual myocardial injury, even in children, he added.
The clinical relevance of the findings and their potential contributions to long-term sequelae remain under study in the pediatric population, Dr. Fagbuyi said.
For more asthma news, don’t forget about
DiseaseProof’s asthma category.
