CASE REPORT   

Minerva Respiratory Medicine 2022 December;61(4):198-203

DOI: 10.23736/S2784-8477.22.01994-5

Copyright © 2022 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Benralizumab therapy rapidly improved the quality of life in a woman with adult-onset non-allergic eosinophilic asthma

Jordan GIORDANI ¹ ✉, Manuela CIARFAGLIA ¹, Alessandro PINI ², Leonardo PEDRONI ¹, Nicla ORZES ³, Yehia EL MASRI ¹, Chiara GALIMBERTI ¹, Laura PINI ^{1, 4}, Roberto PORTA ⁵

¹ Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; ² Agence Nationale Desante Publique (ANSP), Saint-Maurice, France; ³ Ospedale Santa Maria Del Prato, Feltre, Belluno, Italy; ⁴ Respiratory Medicine Unit, ASST-Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy; ⁵ Don Gnocchi Foundation, Rovato, Brescia, Italy

We describe the case of a 52-year-old woman diagnosed with adult-onset severe non-allergic eosinophilic asthma received 16 years after the symptoms began. These years have been characterized by frequent episodes of exacerbation and loss of symptom control, despite adequate therapies prescribed by several pulmonology specialists. Moreover, the progressive worsening of asthma, combined with a complex family situation that often brought the patient to neglect her therapies and examinations, led to a drastic quality of life (QoL) impairment and the onset of frustration and depressive symptoms. After formulation in 2020 of a differential diagnosis by a first-level center, the patient has been referred to a Severe Asthma Outpatient second level clinic where she began a monoclonal anti IL5-Ra antibody therapy with benralizumab 30 mg SC. Since the first dose, the patient showed a progressive improvement in symptoms control which also had a beneficial effect on her QoL. Reduced eosinophil levels that got 0 cells/mm³ and improved Asthma Control Test (ACT) and mini AQLQ-QoL test confirmed the therapy effectiveness. The description of this case should raise awareness among primary care physicians and specialists to refer patients with severe forms of asthma refractory to oral and inhaled therapies to second-and third-level centers to start an adequate therapy with biological drugs.

KEY WORDS: Benralizumab; Asthma; Quality of life