PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - C Picado
AU  - JA Castillo
AU  - JM Montserrat
AU  - A Agusti-Vidal
TI  - Aspirin-intolerance as a precipitating factor of life-threatening attacks of asthma requiring mechanical ventilation
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.93.02020127
DP  - 1989 Feb 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 127--129
VI  - 2
IP  - 2
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/2/2/127.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/2/2/127.full
SO  - Eur Respir J1989 Feb 01; 2
AB  - The records of 92 asthmatics who underwent mechanical ventilation were reviewed. In seven patients (8%) the severe attack was precipitated by a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID); one of these patients died. Five of the cases had a history of asthmatic attacks provoked by NSAIDs; whilst in two the severe attack requiring mechanical ventilation was the first manifestation of NSAID-intolerance. In two patients the NSAID had been prescribed by their physicians. Another aspirin-intolerant patient, a general practitioner, self-administered a NSAID. The sudden attack in another patient was precipitated by a preparation which contains aspirin and is usually recommended for indigestion. In the fatal case the attack was provoked by a capsule containing aspirin, which had been given by a herbalist. Unlike other reports, we found that NSAID-intolerance is a frequent provoking factor in severe acute asthma requiring mechanical ventilation. Inadequate investigation of precipitating factors in asthmatics with severe sudden attacks is a possible reason why this phenomenon is underreported.