BACKGROUND The EAGLE project database was analysed to assess the characteristics of patients with severe (SA) who required hospitalisation as a result of an acute episode during the period 1994-2004, and the relationship with asthma severity. METHODS A total od 2593 clinical records corresponding to an equal number of patients hospitalised for acute asthma (15-69 years), with sufficient infor...

BACKGROUND Few studies have reported the effects of early tracheotomy in acute severe asthmatic patients. We report two patients with acute severe asthma who were successfully treated with early tracheotomy. METHODS The two patients with acute severe asthma were retrospectively reviewed. They had been treated at the Department of Emergency and Critical Care, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong ...

OBJECTIVE To present a clinical approach to the management of acute asthma and the life threatening episode of asthma. DATA SOURCES A review of published peer-review articles and studies reported from 1966 to 1999 and identified through a MEDLINE search on the management of acute asthma, status asthmaticus and acute fulminant asthma. SUMMARY OF REVIEW Asthma is a disease caused by a chronic...

A new and potentially more pathogenic group of human rhinovirus (HRV), group C (HRVC), has recently been discovered. We hypothesised that HRVC would be present in children with acute asthma and cause more severe attacks than other viruses or HRV groups. Children with acute asthma (n = 128; age 2-16 yrs) were recruited on presentation to an emergency department. Asthma exacerbation severity was ...

Children with acute severe asthma exacerbation are at risk of developing respiratory failure. Moreover, conventional aggressive management might be futile in acute severe asthma requiring intubation and invasive ventilation. The aim of this review is to detail evidence on the use of ketamine in childhood asthma exacerbations. A search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases was performed...

Arterial blood gas sampling is a very important investigation in the assessment of a patient’s acidbase status and oxygenation in acute and chronic bronchial asthma. It is the gold standard test which measures amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide as well as the pH of the blood while it also evaluates the effective delivery of oxygen to the blood by the lungs and effective elimination of the car...

Asthma is a serious and prevalent public health problem that spans the entire world. It is estimated that asthma affects over 300 million people worldwide.1 Its prevalence is approximately 21 million citizens in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.2 Other reports indicate that as many as 9.5 million children currently have asthma in the United States.3...

BACKGROUND A study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that a particular inhaled beta agonist, fenoterol, increases the incidence of severe life threatening asthma. METHODS A retrospective cohort was assembled comprising 655 patients with asthma aged 15-55 years who attended a single Auckland hospital for acute asthma between 1 January 1986 and 31 December 1987 (the "index event"). Patients...