Inhaled XXXX for maintenance treatment of @entity10070 .

@entity1 @entity1667 @entity1289 @entity2262 @entity4184 @entity701 @entity230 @entity10070 @entity288
Forty-seven @entity1 with @entity10070 stage II-III, fulfilling clinical indications for starting treatment with @entity288 , received oral @entity1667 for 8 weeks in gradually decreasing doses (starting dose 48 mg per day). From week 5 onwards, they also received inhaled @entity4184 , 1.6 mg daily. Treatment was continued for 18 months and all @entity1 have been followed for at least 3 years. At 18 months treatment could be discontinued in 38 @entity1 , who had used individually adjusted doses of @entity4184 depending on the clinical response (reduced doses in 14, initial dose in 16, and increased doses in 8 @entity1 ). @entity4184 treatment alone was satisfactory in 31 of these 38 cases. An additional seven @entity1 could stop treatment after receiving supplementary courses of oral @entity230 for 3-12 months. Treatment is ongoing in 9 @entity1 in which 6 have extrapulmonary manifestations requiring oral @entity230 . The chest radiograph became normal in 22 @entity1 and improved in 14. Significant improvements were noted in FVC and DLco in relation to predicted normal values. Serum @entity1289 , lysozyme and @entity2262 values decreased significantly. Transient cough was seen in 5 and hoarseness in 3 @entity1 . No systemic side-effects were noted; one @entity1 taking 2.4 mg @entity4184 daily had a plasma @entity701 value below the normal range. Inhaled @entity4184 seems to offer an effective and safe alternative to oral @entity230 for long-term maintenance treatment of @entity1 with @entity10070 .
