ABSTRACT

A 36-year-old woman has presented with severe shortness of breath associated with wheeze and productive cough. She was diagnosed with asthma at age 10 years. Until a year ago she had never been admitted to hospital, but since then she has been admitted three times with asthma exacerbations. She also complains of a chronic productive cough with large quantities of thick, dark sputum that is hard to expectorate. There is no other medical history, including sinusitis. She has never smoked. There is no travel history. She is taking salbutamol inhaler, 2 puffs four times daily; Seretide 250, 2 puffs twice daily; montelukast, 10 mg once daily; Uniphyllin Continus, 200 mg twice daily.