Bronchial Asthma Showing Reduction in FEV1 after Inhalation of Qvar

The administration of Qvar (a hydrofluoroalkane-134a beclomethasone dipropionate; HFA-BDP) is highly useful for the treatment of patients with asthma. However, we found in a case of bronchial asthma that replacing the prior inhaled corticosteroids with Qvar resulted in temporary dyspnea and reduction in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1). Qvar contains beclomethasone dipropionate combined with absolute ethanol and an alternative to fluorocarbon. The patient had complicated alcohol-induced asthma. FEV1 decreased markedly and immediately after Qvar inhalation. The Qvar placebo is free of beclomethasone but contains other ingredients (ethanol and fluorocarbon). FEV1 did not decrease after the Qvar placebo, Aldecin inhalation, and Qvar inhalation orally treated with atropine before inhalation of Qvar™. It seems unlikely that the components of Qvar (except beclomethasone) are responsible for the reduction in FEV1 observed immediately after inhalation of Qvar. These findings would be noteworthy when us...