Prognosis of asthmatic adolescents in adulthood

Little is known about the long-term outcome of asthmatic adolescents. Accor ding to the literature, 20 to 50% of asthmatic adolescents become symptom-f ree when they become adults. We report 50 cases of asthmatic adolescents, 2 5 girls and 25 boys, with a mean follow of 4.4 years (range 1-12 years). On ly 4 patients (8%) became symptom-free, all 4 were stage I and II patients. One death occured subsequent to penicillin allergy but was nor related to status asthmaticus. Nor remission was observed in stage III and IV patients , whereas 5.8% and 12% of stage II and II patients respectively grew our of their asthma. The factors predictive of persistent asthma in adulthood wer e severe asthma at the age of 13 years, female gender onset of asthma befor e the age of 7 years, no periodic rhinitis, and exercise induced asthma.