Effective bronchodilator treatmentbya simple spacerdevice forwheezy prematureinfants

Oneinfantwhoresponded after the placebo period (functionalresidual capacity increased by 29%) showed a40% improvement after the active period andbecame symptom free during twoweeks treat-mentwith terbutaline. Theotherinfant's func-tional residual capacity improved by28%afterplacebo, and by 22% after active treatment.The response to treatment with terbutalinedid not seemto begreater in the older infants,as the youngestinfant in thestudygroup(post-natal age 8 months) had a clinically importantchange in functional residual capacityinresponsetoterbutalineandwassymptomfreeatthe end of the active treatment period.DiscussionTheseresults showthat inhaled bronchodilatortreatment with