Current opinion in allergy and clinical immunology
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Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol · Apr 2014
ReviewShared clinician-patient decision-making about treatment of pediatric asthma: what do we know and how can we use it?
Shared decision-making (SDM) is an emerging field that promises to improve healthcare. We aim to explore the concept of SDM, how it has been studied or applied in the treatment of asthma, and how it might be implemented to improve adherence and outcomes in pediatric asthma. ⋯ SDM has the promise to improve satisfaction with disease management, treatment adherence and patient-centered outcomes in pediatric asthma, but further research is needed to determine its effectiveness and to establish guidelines on how to implement SDM in the clinical setting and incorporate the input and preferences of all stakeholders' perspectives.
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Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol · Apr 2014
ReviewEosinophils in the pathogenesis of paediatric severe asthma.
The importance and functional contribution of eosinophils to the pathogenesis of severe asthma was questioned when adult studies reported neutrophilic inflammation and Th17 cells were central to disease. ⋯ Data from children with severe asthma have shown that findings from adults cannot be translated to children, and that steroid-resistant eosinophilic inflammation appears central to the pathogenesis of paediatric disease. Age-appropriate experimental models and use of airway samples from children are critical to understanding the underlying mechanisms and identifying novel therapeutic targets.