Chronic oral corticosteroids use and persistent eosinophilia in severe asthmatics from the Belgian severe asthma registry.

BACKGROUND: Severe asthma (SA) may require frequent courses or chronic use of oral corticosteroids (OCS), inducing many known side effects and complications. Therefore, it is important to identify risk factors of chronic use of OCS in SA, considering the heterogeneity of clinical and inflammatory asthma phenotypes. Another aim of the present analysis is to characterize a subpopulation of severe asthmatics, in whom blood eosinophil counts (BEC) remain elevated despite chronic OCS treatment. METHODS: In a cross-sectional analysis of 982 SA patients enrolled in the Belgian Severe Asthma Registry... Mehr ...