| Title: | Experience of Benralizumab (Fesenra) at St. Luke Hospital, Kilkenny [ SLK ] – Carlow. |
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| Author(s): | Zaheer M.S. , Shahzad Q, Helly F, Canavan B. |
| Institution: | Department of Respiratory Medicine St. Luke’s General Hospital , Kilkenny |
| Poster: | Click to view poster |
| Category: | Asthma and COPD |
| Abstract: | Benralizumab (Fasenra) is a HSE approved monoclonal antibody, directed against the alpha-chain of IL-5 receptor, for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma and has been shown to improve asthma control in this cohort1. In January 2020, 6 patients in St Luke’s General Hospital, Co. Kilkenny, commenced Benralizumab treatment. Here we present the results of patients having completed 5 (n=2) and 7 (n=4) months of treatment. The study population comprised 66.66% females (n=4) with a mean age of 64.67 years and a mean eosinophil count of 0.55 x10^9/L. All were steroid dependant with average prednisolone intake of 189.16mg/week. Benralizumab 30mg was administered subcutaneously 4 weekly for 3 months, and 8 weekly thereafter. With Benralizumab, prednisolone use reduced to 17.5mg/week, with an overall 90.74% reduction in the steroid use [p =0.0002]. 66.66% of participants were able to completely stop steroids after 3 months. Exacerbation’s, hospital and GP visits were reduced from 8.1 per patient to 0.166, representing a 100% reduction in GP visits. ACT score improved 50.79% from 12.6 to 19 [p=0.029]; while AQLQ[s] score improved 27.3%. No significant side effects were reported. This study demonstrates that Benralizumab improves control in severe eosinophilic asthma, reducing exacerbations, steroid dependency and doctor visits |
