Suresh Uppalapu, MD
Sunil Santhanakrishnan, MD
Rajeev Saggar, MD
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center
Phoenix, AZ
History of Present Illness
A 50-year-old African-American woman with a history of asthma presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of shortness of breath for 2 weeks. She reported some chest tightness, wheezing and dry cough. She denied fever, chills, myalgias or arthralgias at the time of admission.
PMH, SH and FH
In addition to asthma, she has a past medical history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and multiple sclerosis. She admitted to social smoking but states she quit 6 to 7 months ago. She denies alcohol, recreational drug use, or a family history of early coronary artery disease, strokes or cancers.
Medications
Physical Exam
Vitals: Temperature 37.2º C, respiratory rate 33 breaths/min, heart rate 112 beats/min, blood pressure 152/80 mm Hg, SpO2 80% on room air but 98% on 3 liters/min by nasal cannula.
General: Mild respiratory distress.
Lungs: Diminished breath sounds diffusely with mild wheezing.
The rest of her exam was within normal limits.
Laboratory/EKG/Chest Radiography
White blood cells 8.1 X 103 cells/microliter, hemoglobin 13.9 g/dL, hematocrit 41.7, platelets 289,000 cells/microliter.
Electrolytes blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, glucose, troponin, and brain naturetic peptide were within normal limits
EKG showed sinus tachycardia but was otherwise normal.
Chest x-ray was interpreted as normal.
A thoracic CT scan showed wispy infiltrates but no evidence of pulmonary embolism or other abnormalities.
Which of the following is appropriate management at this time? (Click on the correct answer to proceed to the second of four panels)
Reference as: Uppalapu S, Santhanakrishnan S, Saggar R. February 2015 pulmonary case of the month: severe asthma. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2015;10(2):57-62. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc010-15 PDF