Aerosolized albuterol improves airway reactivity in infants with acute respiratory failure from respiratory syncytial virus.

The objective of this investigation was to measure the bronchodilator effect of aerosolized albuterol on infants with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-induced respiratory failure. Infants who required intubation and mechanical ventilator support for RSV disease were eligible for this prospective, nonrandomized study. Pulmonary function tests, including respiratory mechanics by least mean square analysis, small airway function by rapid thoraco-abdominal compression, and functional residual capacity by nitrogen washout were performed before and 20 min after inhalation of 20-40 breaths of undiluted (0.5%) albuterol solution via a small-volume nebulizer. Analysis of maximum expiratory flow at functional residual capacity (V'maxFRC) before and after albuterol administration was performed using a t-test for paired comparisons. A two-tailed P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Twenty-five infants (mean +/-SD postconceptional age = 45 +/- 5 weeks) were enrolled. Thirteen of the 25 infants had a prior history of prematurity and/or cardiorespiratory disease. After aerosolized albuterol, mean V'maxFRC increased significantly from 48 +/- 46 ml/sec to 65 +/- 59 ml/sec (P = 0.03); however, only three patients had an increase into the normal range. Three patients had a substantial (40-50%) decrease in V'maxFRC. These findings suggest that during the acute phase of severe RSV respiratory infection some of this group of very young infants had airway reactivity that improved in response to inhaled albuterol.