Beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol in the treatment of asthma in steroid-independent children.

Sixty-eight steroid-independent children, whose asthma was poorly controlled by bronchodilators and other anti-asthmatic drugs, were treated for six weeks with 200 to 400 mcg per day of beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol. Symptoms of wheezing, blockage, and cough, reported by the children in a daily diary, improved in 80% of cases. Use of other anti-asthmatic medications, which the children were free to modify as they wished, decreased. Objective measurements of pulmonary function, VC, FEV1, and FEV%, evaluated by weekly spirometry, also improved in almost 80% of cases. The dosages used here had no effect on early morning plasma cortisol levels and none of the children developed signs of oral candidiasis.