[Cardiac tolerance of a beta 2-sympathomimetic spray in 37 asthmatic adults monitored by Holter recording].

Thirty-seven asthmatic adults (27 women, 10 men), aged 28 to 70 yrs (mean 50. yrs), in a stable condition, were studied to assess the cardiac tolerance of B2SM sprays. These patients had no cardiac arrhythmia (checked by echocardiography), no hypertension and no hyperthyroidism. Two thirds had severe asthma, and 16 suffered from chronic asthma. After their condition was stabilized, they continued their previous treatment, consisting of theophylline (34 cases), moderate corticotherapy (19 cases), atropine spray (14 cases). Holter monitoring was performed before and 3 days after the institution of treatment by Fenoterol spray at 1,600 micrograms per day in 4 doses at fixed times. Gasometry was tested immediately before and during the protocol. Before B2SM treatment, 26 patients had a normal Holter, 11 had an abnormal first recording (4 important atrial ectopic beats (EBs), 5 ventricular EBs, 1 associating the two), 1 patient had an episode of ventricular tachycardia (VT). With Fenoterol, we observed (with no clinical manifestation) the aggravation of 1 pre-existing atrial EBs and 2 ventricular EBs. Two patients had a short episode of tachycardia but the role of Fenoterol was uncertain: one case was an elderly hypoxaemic patient and in the second a high theophylline level (20 mg/l) was found. The arrhythmogenic property peculiar to B2SM in spray form seems low at the dose we used. However in this study and in certain circumstances, such as hypoxemia, metabolic acidosis, or theophylline overload, the use B2SM may have contributed, together with other factors, to induce disquieting infraclinical cardiac dysrhythmia. We stress that this short-term study involved stable asthmatic patients under surveillance in hospital conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)