Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in severe acute asthma is controversial but may benefit this population by preventing intubation. We report on a 35-year-old male asthma patient who presented to our emergency department via emergency medical services. The patient was responsive, diaphoretic, and breathing at 35 breaths/min on 100% oxygen with bag-mask assistance, with S(pO2) 88%, heart rate 110-12...

Status asthmaticus, or acute severe asthma [ 1 ], is a potentially life-threatening episode of severe asthma failing to respond to usually effective or increasing amounts of inhaled [32-adrenergic agonists and theophylline preparations . Such an acute episode of asthma is often preceded by inadequate control of symptoms over the preceding weeks with more rapid deterioration 24 h immediately bef...

Plasma antidiuretic hormone concentrations were measured in a group of children with acute asthma and in a control group. Very high levels of antidiuretic hormone were found in the asthmatic group. There were no changes in other biochemical indices. If overproduction of antidiuretic hormone is sustained then fluid administration to children with severe acute asthma is potentially dangerous.

the role of chlamydia pneumoniae in asthma has drawn much attention in recent years. in this study we assessed the prevalence of c. pneumoniae infections in patients with chronic stable and acute exacerbation of asthma and compared it with normal population. twenty adult patients with chronic stable asthma and 21 patients with acute exacerbations of asthma and 41 matched control subjects were s...

1 Levy ML, Stevenson C, Maslen T. Comparison of short courses of oral prednisolone and fluticasone propionate in the treatment of adults with acute exacerbations of asthma in primary care. Thorax 1996; 51:1087–1092 2 Rodrigo G, Rodrigo C. Inhaled flunisolide for acute severe asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1998; 157:698–703 3 Nana A, Youngchaiyud P, Charoenratanakul S, et al. Highdose inhaled...

Background: IL-17 is a major cytokine player in T cell mediated leukocyte associated inflammation. IL-17 is also recognized to participate in the pathophysiology of asthma. Objective: To determine the role of IL-17 in predicting severe asthma. Methods: We obtained serum samples from asthmatic children under the age of 5-year in three different groups of mild (n=33), moderate (n=28) and severe (...

We report a unique case of near fatal acute pulmonary oedema developing with intravenous ritodrine, given in an attempt to suppress premature labour. The novel aspect of the case is that the patient had also been treated in the previous week with high dose nebulized beta-agonists for an episode of acute severe asthma, demonstrating that this idiosyncratic reaction to beta-adrenergic agents only...

INTRODUCTION Severe acute asthma in children is associated with substantial morbidity and may require pediatric ICU (PICU) admission. The aim of the study was to determine risk factors for PICU admission. METHODS The study used a retrospective multicenter case-control design. The cases included children admitted to the PICU because of severe acute asthma and a history of out-patient treatmen...

Asthma is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, with over two million Emergency Department (ED) visits each year. Airway inflammation is recognized as a major component in the pathophysiology of asthma. The classic presentation of asthma is that of wheezing, cough, and dyspnea, however, the severity of airflow limitation correlates poorly with clinical signs. Forced ex...

Previous reports have documented the occurrence of reversible electrocardiographic changes including right axis deviation, P pulmonale, right bundle-branch block, and ST-segment and T-wave abnormalities in patients with acute attacks of asthma. In a further systematic study, the electrocardiographs of 63 patients admitted with severe acute asthma have been evaluated. The most consistent change ...