title: [Pseudoasthmatic syndrome due to achalasia cardiae].
abstract: The authors present a case of an 18-year-old woman, were referred to an allergologist because of a suspicion of bronchial asthma. She had complained of respiratory symptoms: chronic bronchitis for three years, cough and dyspnoea. Auscultation revealed wheezies and rales. Spirometry showed severe airway obstruction. Because of negative result of a reversibility test, ex iuvantibus treatment with prednisone was used but no results were obtained. The next step of diagnostic procedure was computed tomography which revealed the trachea compression by the dilated oesophagus. Finally she was found by us to have esophageal achalasia. Pharmacological treatment with nifedipine did not give an improvement. After operation the asthmatic symptoms disappeared and marked improvement was found in the flow-volume curve and in the chest radiogram. The demonstrated case proves that esophageal achalasia should be considered as one of the differential diagnoses of pathological respiratory symptoms suggesting asthma difficult to treat.
authors.affiliation: Zakład Alergologii SPSK Nr 1 ACK AM w Gdańsku.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mincewicz
authors.forename: Eliza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wasilewska
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aloszko
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kurowski
authors.forename: Zenon
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Siergiejko
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mierzejewska
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D029481:Bronchitis, Chronic / Q000209:etiology*; D003371:Cough / Q000209:etiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology*; D004931:Esophageal Achalasia / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013147:Spirometry; D013577:Syndrome; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome