Individual results of treatment of COPD with low doses of fenoterol compared with treatment with ipratropium bromide

We compared the effects of 30-day treatments with fenoterol in low doses (4 x 100 mcg) and ipratropium bromide (4 x 40 mcg) on the lung function parameters (LFP), dyspnea and physical capacity of patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (FEV1 < 35% pred.) and analysed the individual response of patients to the administered therapy. The study included two groups of patients treated with fenoterol (n = 22) and ipratropium bromide (n = 22). The patients were matched by functional characteristics (age: 60 +/- 7 and 57 +/- 9 years; ATS Dyspnea Scale: 2.7 +/- 0.8 and 2.4 +/- 0.9; FEV1%: 25 +/- 7% and 23 +/- 6%; pO2: 62.4 +/- 5.3 mm Hg and 61.0 +/- 9.5 mm Hg; all values mean +/- SD). After 30 days of treatment we measured the lung function parameters (FEV1, FVC), dyspnea indices (ATS dyspnea scale, Borg scale) and the physical capacity of the patients (6-minute walking distance test). The results showed that in an open experiment fenoterol (4 x 100 mcg daily), unlike ipratropium bromide (4 x 40 mcg daily), cannot improve statistically and clinically significantly the lung function parameters, dyspnea and the physical capacity of the group as a whole. However, when the findings were assessed for each patient individually, 32% of the patients proved to have responded positively to the treatment. Therefore efficaciousness of fenoterol in low doses should be determined by assessing the lung function parameters, dyspnea and the physical capacity individually for each patient.