title: [A case of chronic asthma with emphysematous change in a middle-aged woman].
abstract: A 32-year-old woman with chronic asthma is presented. She had suffered from dyspnea and breathlessness on exertion for 7 years. Her chest X-ray film on admission showed marked emphysematous changes and chest CT scan revealed low attenuation areas, however she was a non-smoker and had no previous childhood respiratory problems. She was administered prednisolone to treat the wheezing attack and hypoxemia. After treatment, her lung function and hypoxemia improved, but low attenuation areas of the chest CT scan remained unchanged. These facts suggest the possibility that bronchial asthma which is controlled poorly for a long time, may cause emphysematous change of the lung.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Medicine, Oita Medical University, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mitoh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizuki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugisaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed