Acute asthma: Treatment and outcome of 2000 consecutive pediatric emergency room visits in Doha, Qatar

The case files of 2000 asthma episodes seen in our pediatric emergency room (PER) over a 2-month period were reviewed. Patients included 1429 males and 571 females with 66.2% <48 months old. More than 60% of patients had been symptomatic for <24 hr and 88.5% had tried inhaled beta(2)-agonist before coming to the PER. In the PER, 57% responded to a single salbutamol aerosol and 35.5% responded to a combination of 2-3 salbutamol, IV hydrocortisone, and aminophylline drip <6 hr. Only 7.5% were admitted to the hospital. Of the admitted patients, 82% had been symptomatic for >24 hr and 60.6% were <4 years old.