Table 1 Patient baseline characteristics

Patients (n)

28

12

16

Mean age (years)

59.7 ± 14.6

65.5 ± 9.8

55.3 ± 16.3

Male/female*

12/16

8/4

4/12

Duration (years)

9.6 ± 7.3

12.5 ± 8.1

7.5 ± 6.0

Atopy/non-atopy

10/18

4/8

6/10

 Smoker

2

1

1

 Ex-smoker

4

2

2

 Never-smoker

22

9

13

Serum IgE (IU/mL)

420 ± 404

382 ± 287

459 ± 514

Serum eosinophils (/μL)

457 ± 331

537 ± 354

394 ± 308

 FVC (% of pred.)

103.2 ± 12.8

96.6 ± 12.1

107.6 ± 11.6

 FEV₁ (% of pred.)

84.4 ± 21.5

76.1 ± 28.3

90.0 ± 13.8

 FEV_1%

65.5 ± 12.9

60.3 ± 15.7

68.9 ± 9.7

 V₅₀ (% of pred.)

47.3 ± 26.2

40.5 ± 28.7

51.8 ± 24.4

 V₂₅ (% of pred.)

30.6 ± 17.2

28.9 ± 16.4

31.8 ± 18.1

 BFC alone

12

4

8

 with LTRA^a

13

6

7

 with theophylline

9

5

4

 Observation period (days)

253 ± 59

229 ± 74

271 ± 37

 Frequency of PEF (%)

94.9 ± 9.6

92.4 ± 14.2

96.7 ± 3.2

 Basal dose of BFC (inhalations/day)

3.2 ± 1.0

3.7 ± 0.8

2.9 ± 1.0

 Additional dose of BFC** (inhalations/day)

1.0 ± 1.1

0.0 ± 0.0

2.0 ± 0.5