Prenatal origins of bronchiolitis: protective effect of optimised asthma management during pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
Maternal asthma is the most common chronic disease complicating pregnancy and is a risk factor for bronchiolitis in infancy. Recurrent episodes of bronchiolitis are strongly associated with the development of childhood asthma.


METHODS
We conducted a follow-up study of infants born to women with asthma who completed a double-blind randomised controlled trial during pregnancy. In this trial, pregnant women with asthma were assigned to treatment adjustment by an algorithm using clinical symptoms (clinical group) or the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO group) and we showed that the FeNO group had significantly lower asthma exacerbation rates in pregnancy.


RESULTS
146 infants attended the 12-month follow-up visit. Infants born to mothers from the FeNO group were significantly less likely to have recurrent episodes of bronchiolitis in the first year of life (OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.62; p=0.016) as compared with the clinical group.


CONCLUSIONS
Optimised management of asthma during pregnancy may reduce recurrent episodes of bronchiolitis in infancy, which could potentially modulate the risk to develop or the severity of emerging childhood asthma.
['Mattes|Joerg|J|', 'Murphy|Vanessa E|VE|', 'Powell|Heather|H|', 'Gibson|Peter G|PG|']
D001249:Asthma D001944:Breath Tests D001988:Bronchiolitis D001993:Bronchodilator Agents D004311:Double-Blind Method D005260:Female D005500:Follow-Up Studies D006801:Humans D007223:Infant D007231:Infant, Newborn D016015:Logistic Models D008297:Male D009569:Nitric Oxide D011247:Pregnancy D011248:Pregnancy Complications D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects D015995:Prevalence D012008:Recurrence D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Asthma