A case in which bronchorrhea was alleviated by oral erythromycin and inhalation of beclomethasone and furosemide

A 55-year-old woman with bronchorrhea and bronchial asthma was admitted to our hospital in June, 1992. On admission, she was producing a large volume of sputum (200 ml) each day. The volume decreased with oral administration of erythromycin and inhalation of beclomethasone. Next, inhalation of furosemide was added to the regimen, which lead to symptomatic improvement in mucus clearance, although the sputum increased in volume. The concentrations of albumin, fucose, sialic acid, and phosphatidylcholine in the sputum changed with these treatments, as did the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio. These observations suggest that these drugs affect not only the quantity but also the quality of sputum.