Cough and persistent wheeze in a patient with long-standing asthma.

摘要

A 40-year-old Chinese woman presented with complaints of recurrent cough with wheezing. She had a history of bronchial asthma for 5 years for which she was receiving inhalers prescribed by her family physician, but her symptoms worsened despite being compliant to medications. She had progressive decreased effort tolerance with increasing shortness of breath and increased frequency of wheezing episodes for which she had to seek treatment at the emergency department. She had no other medical conditions. She did not drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes. There was no occupational exposure to toxic substances. Family history was not significant.