Abstract
Patients with severe persistent asthma represent the highest unmet medical need among the asthmatic population today. To improve the understanding of more severe disease progresses in pediatric and adult asthma the German Asthma Net (GAN e.V.) launched a National Severe Asthma Register in December 2011. Enrolled patients undergo detailed clinical and physiologic evaluations, including patients' medical history, allergy, lung function, lung inflammation, blood testing as well as past and concomitant medication and comorbidities. As of February 20, 2012 six participating centers joined the program and recruited 93 subjects (mean age±SEM 49±1 years, 63% female, FEV1 2.0±0.1 L (65.3±2.1%), 97% uncontrolled or partly controlled asthma according to GINA, 54% allergic asthma, 46% on oral corticosteroids, 39% on omalizumab, eNO 51±6 ppb, 3.4±0.4 exacerbations during the last 12 months). Recruitment of a larger number of subjects with severe asthma, including children, is ongoing and will allow further characterization of clinical, physiologic, cellular and biochemical factors related to severe disease in a longitudinal assessment to identify parameters that improve diagnosis, phenotyping, management and treatment of this heterogeneous condition. In addition, the German Severe Asthma Register may help to confirm and extend results obtained in similar databases, including U-BIOPRED and SARP.
- © 2012 ERS