Chest
Selected ReportsLife-Threatening Status Asthmaticus at 12.5 Weeks’ Gestation: Report of a Normal Pregnancy Outcome
Section snippets
Case Report
A 26-year-old white woman presented to her local hospital emergency room in distress after unsuccessfully self-treating increasingly refractory asthma for three weeks with sodium cromoglycate as needed and orally administered theophylline. The patient has been an asthmatic since age four and had three previous hospital admissions for exacerbations. At the time of presentation, she was 12.5 weeks pregnant. She was immediately treated with a 250 mg intravenous bolus of aminophylline and nebulized
Discussion
A frequent worry for asthmatic women and their physicians is the effect that asthma treatment may have on the developing embryo/fetus. Beta-agonists, beclomethasone, sodium cromoglycate, oral theophylline, and systemic corticosteroids are not associated with increased risks of complications in pregnancy.5, 6, 7 This reassurance notwithstanding, a fetus is seldom exposed to the combination of medications that was given to this patient. However, at 12.5 weeks’ gestation, the period of major
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