Abstract
Background: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease with arising prevalence. There are few studies in Chile that describe clinical characteristics of pediatric hospitalized patients.
Objective: To describe clinical characteristics of patients hospitalized due to asthma attacks.
Method: Descriptive-retrospective study in asthmatic children between 6 and 15 years-old, hospitalized in the Pediatric Service at the Clinical Hospital of Pontificia Universidad Católica of Chile between 1998 and 2004.
Results: From a total of 317 asthmatic clinical charts, we reviewed 188 (61%), from which 113 met inclusion criteria. Sixty eight patients were male (61%), 75 cases (66%) presented acute exacerbations before 3 years-old, the most frequent trigger was respiratory virus infections in 53 cases (47%), 93% (105 patients) required FiO2 < 50% and atopy was present in 60 patients (53%).
Conclusion: The majority of hospitalized patients presented mild or moderate crisis and did not need management on intensive critical units. Atopy was a frequent finding. It is important to develop a prospective study that evaluates type and adherence to asthma treatment, in order to achieve clinical influence in asthma evolution.
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