Ventilatory management of respiratory failure in asthma
Article Abstract:
Better understanding of spontaneous positive end-expiratory pressure (auto-PEEP) may improve the mechanical ventilation of patients with severe airway obstruction. The development of auto-PEEP causes changes in lung pressure, resulting in a drop in heart output and blood pressure. A 60-year-old nonsmoking woman with a history of asthma had successfully been treated in the emergency department many times. However, she died the first time she was intubated and mechanically ventilated. After intubation, her blood pressure dropped dramatically and she stopped breathing. She had what is known as electromechanical dissociation of the heart (EMD), which occurs when the heart continues pumping but there is no detectable blood pressure or pulse. Mechanical interference with the filling of the heart is the most common cause of this and the most probable cause of this woman's EMD.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1993
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Outcomes analysis in asthma
Article Abstract:
Outcomes analysis in asthma treatment may be helpful in improving patient care. Outcomes analysis evaluates the effectiveness of medical care by reviewing clinical improvements, side effects, patient satisfaction, and cost. Annual treatment costs for asthma exceed $3 billion, with half incurred in emergency room visits and hospitalization. Patients satisfied with care are more likely to comply with treatment plans. Asthma treatment programs that provide comprehensive intervention have been shown to reduce symptoms, lower costs and improve patient function.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Asthma: Prevalence, Pathogenesis, and Prospects for Novel Therapies
Article Abstract:
The number of people with asthma is increasing, particularly in developed countries. The reason is not known, but research on immunological abnormalities may lead to more effective treatments.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 2001
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: New home-based treatment for people with asthma. Treatment of allergic rhinitis and asthma. Preparing patients with asthma for discharge
- Abstracts: Relationships between the composition of dietary fibre in the diet and the digestion and transit time in rats
- Abstracts: Management of fever in patients with cancer and treatment-induced neutropenia. Side effects of adjuvant treatment of breast cancer
- Abstracts: Dietary treatment of uraemia and the relation to lipoprotein metabolism. Comparison of a vitamin E rich diet and supplemental vitamin E on measures of vitamin E status and lipoprotein profile
- Abstracts: Prevention of lyme disease after tick bites: a cost effectiveness analysis. Doxycycline for tick bites -- not for everyone