The Editorial Executive Committee welcomes letters, which should be less than 250 words. Before a decision to publish is made, letters which refer to a published article may be sent to the author for a response. Any letter may be sent to an expert for comment. When letters are published, they are usually accompanied in the same issue by their responses or comments. The Committee screens out discourteous, inaccurate or libellous statements. The letters are sub-edited before publication. Authors are required to declare any conflicts of interest. The Committee's decision on publication is final.
Editor, – Australian Prescriber Vol. 19 No. 4 1996 was accompanied by a card entitled 'Doses of selected emergency drugs'. Aminophylline was recommended for asthma not responding to nebulised salbutamol. The Canadian Medical Association Journal recently published guidelines for the emergency management of asthma.1 These guidelines were developed using an evidence-based medicine approach. The recommendation not to use aminophylline in the setting of the emergency department was grade A based on a meta-analysis of the results of 9 level I trials and 4 level II trials.2 The use of aminophylline appears to be associated with an increased risk of adverse effects. Aminophylline may have a role in the treatment of patients with severe acute asthma once the initial crisis in the emergency department has passed.
Joel Lexchin
Doctor of Medicine
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Editorial note:
Dr Lexchin's letter was referred to Professor J.P. Seale who represents the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand on the Advisory Editorial Panel of Australian Prescriber. Professor Seale concurs with Dr Lexchin. He also points out that the guidelines of the National Asthma Campaign3
state that the benefits of aminophylline are uncertain and so it should be reserved for adults who are unresponsive to maximal doses of beta2 agonists. The guidelines consider aminophylline to be unnecessary in the treatment of acute asthma in children.
