An unusual cause of haemoptysis in a patient with asthma.

She was on maximal treatment for her asthma, and had recently been admitted to the ICU in June–August 2006, initially with an exacerbation of asthma with bilateral pneumothoraces, subsequently complicated by sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. She was slow to wean from the ventilator and required a mini-tracheostomy for 19 days. In the period following discharge, she had been reviewed weekly in the clinic. She complained of a dry cough and dyspepsia, which was treated with a proton pump inhibitor and a prokinetic. Due to persistence of symptoms, she was also given a trial of prednisolone 30 mg daily for 5 days.