Recent treatment guidelines advocate the concurrent use of anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator therapy for optimal management of asthma. To determine if concurrent use of long-acting beta-agonist Salmeterol (S) and inhaled corticostcroid fluticasone propionate (FP) improves asthma control compared to individual agents, 136 patients receiving only short-acting beta agonists with an FEV~ of 50-80% predicted and >15% reversibility were randomly assigned to 1 month treatment with placebo (P), S 42 meg, FP 88 meg, FP 220 mcg, S and FP 88, or S and FP 220 twice daily.
