Anti-Asthma Drug Is Found to Reduce Need for Hospitalization

The anti-asthma drug ipratropium can significantly reduce the need for hospitalization in children who experience a severe asthma attack, according to a study published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.

But the medication, sold under the brand name Atrovert, made little difference for patients with moderate asthma, the study said.

More than 400 asthmatic children who came to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Va., received either ipratropium or saltwater in addition to standard treatment with a steroid and the anti-asthma drug albuterol.

Among the children initially judged to be having a severe asthma attack, 53% of the saltwater recipients and 38% of the children who got ipratropium ultimately had to be hospitalized.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II