Prognosis of Asthma in Childhood

AVAILABLE literature reveals several pertinent long-term follow-up observations on children affected with asthma. Rackemann and Edwards1reported on 449 children seen with asthma and followed up 20 years later. Of these, 52.1% appeared to be cured of asthma and another 19.3% had no symptoms as long as they avoided the offending cause. Only 10.9% of the total were still suffering severe asthma. Flensborg2reported that in 131 patients who had reached the age of 18, 41.1% no longer had asthma. Many of these patients suffered from dyspnea on exertion and it is doubtful whether they could really be called asymptomatic. He suggests that some of these patients may have had permanent emphysema or chronic bronchitis. Barr and Logan3have reported on 336 cases of asthma in children from a follow-up letter 17 to 25 years after the first visit. They found 48% were still wheezing. Of the