ABSTRACT
Successful asthma management achieves multiple goals, including the minimization of asthma-related symptomatology, the reduction or elimination of asthma exacerbations and the minimization of treatment-related side effects. Preschool-age children often exhibit asthma that is more exacerbation prone than impairment dominant, while schoolage children begin to demonstrate elements of both impairment and risk. Exacerbations are often the dominant manifestation of asthma in young children, and while exacerbations tend to become less frequent as children mature through adolescence, they remain a major source of morbidity. The intermittent and episodic nature of this condition has led parents, physicians, and investigators to consider the potential efficacy of the intermittent use of controller therapies just during periods of increased asthma symptomatology, such as viral respiratory tract infections. Inhaled corticosteroid therapy (ICS) is generally well tolerated by the majority of pediatric patients. The regular monitoring of growth in children receiving ICS therapy remains appropriate, with titration of the ICS dosing to the minimally effective dose.
