TY - JOUR T1 - What the pulmonary specialist should know about the new inhalation therapies JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1054 LP - 1055 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00210911 VL - 39 IS - 4 AU - Mitchell, J.P. Y1 - 2012/04/01 UR - //www.qdcxjkg.com/content/39/4/1054.2.abstract N2 - To the Editors:In the recent report of the European Respiratory Society/International Society for Aerosols in Medicine Task Force [1], the authors correctly identify the need to prescribe spacers (sometimes termed valved holding chambers (VHCs) when an inhalation valve is present) to medication delivered from pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs). Although they mention that some pMDI products are licensed for use with a particular spacer, they have failed to point out that each pMDI–spacer combination should be treated as a unique system.In 2008, the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published a recommendation that for inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs), “Spacers should not be regarded as interchangeable: patients who use a spacer with their inhaler should use the spacer device named in the Summary of Product Characteristics” [2]. This guidance further stipulates “Patients whose asthma is well-controlled and who are using a spacer should always … ER -