Mortality Status asthmaticus is a term which is universally used but not uniformly defined. It is generally taken to mean an acute episode of 'bronchospasm', severe enough to cause distress to the patient and which is not relieved by conventional 'bronchodilator' therapy. Is status asthmaticus a transient event in the life of the asthmatic patient; can it be treated as a minor incident? I think...

Rhabdomyolysis is a rare but potentially fatal complication of status asthmaticus. Since the first case was reported in 1978, only a few dozen cases have been described till date. We performed a literature review with the aim to characterize the pathophysiological basis of the occurrence of rhabdomyolysis in patients with status asthmaticus. Excessive exertion of respiratory muscles, hypoxia an...

We report a case of successful use of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) as salvage treatment in an adult with acute, severe, reversible respiratory failure due to asphyxic status asthmaticus. Conventional measures were ineffective to combat the dynamic hyperinflation; the patient had intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure > 30 cm H(2)O. We initiated emergency ECLS at the bedside, and after...

Introduction: Status asthmaticus is an acute exacerbation of asthma caused by increased airflow resistance and mucus plugging. Symptoms of dyspnea may lead to respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. There is limited knowledge about the effects of marijuana on pulmonary function. We report a unique case of status asthmaticus related to frequent marijuana use. Case Presentation: A 38-year-old Afr...

In 11 patients with bronchial asthma, lung volumes, FEV1.0, PaO2, and lung diffusing capacity (single breath CO method) were measured in status asthmaticus and after recovery. Ventilatory capacity improved following therapy. The improvement was associated with a rise in vital capacity and a fall in residual volume, but the total lung capacity might either decrease, increase or remain unchanged....

OBJECTIVE To describe the difficulties that can be encountered during mechanical ventilation of severe status asthmaticus and to discuss the safety of permissive hypercapnia as a ventilatory strategy and the role and limitations of inhalation anesthesia in the treatment of refractory cases. DESIGN Case series and review of literature. SETTING Intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital....

OBJECTIVE The optimum strategy for mechanical ventilation in a child with status asthmaticus is not established. Volume-controlled ventilation continues to be the traditional approach in such children. Pressure-controlled ventilation may be theoretically more advantageous in allowing for more uniform ventilation. We describe our experience with pressure-controlled ventilation in children with s...

Editor’s key points † Enoximone is a phospodiesterase III inhibitor, primarily used in treatment of heart failure. † The author presents a case report of eight patients with status asthmaticus refractory to treatment. † Enoximone was effective in all these patients in reversing bronchospasm. † Enoximone may have a role in refractory status asthmaticus in preventing tracheal intubation and mecha...