title: Left lung asthma.
abstract: The chest radiograph of a woman with acute asthma showed signs of obstructive emphysema of the left lung. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy excluded obstruction of a large bronchus. The signs disappeared after antiasthmatic treatment, suggesting that they were caused by airway closure. In usual asthma, airway closure affects both lungs; the reason for the unilateral predominance we observed is unknown.
authors.affiliation: Département des Maladies Respiratoires, Hôpital Sainte Marguerite, Marseilles, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: DiFrancia
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barbier
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Orehek
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography