title: Other asthma considerations.
abstract: Asthma is a heterogeneous syndrome of cough, wheeze, dyspnea, and chest tightness. However, in a subset of patients, these symptoms may indicate a different underlying disease process with variable responsiveness to classic asthma therapies. Disease may progress while practitioners attempt conventional asthma therapy. Additionally, some types of asthma may require alternative approaches to relieve symptoms successfully. This article describes the differential diagnosis of asthma and discusses some of the more common asthma variants and asthma mimickers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University, 660 Euclid, PO Box 8052, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Aguilar
authors.forename: Evan S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Walgama
authors.forename: Matthew W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D001229:Aspergillosis, Allergic Bronchopulmonary / Q000150:complications*; D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D015267:Churg-Strauss Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D003371:Cough / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D011379:Prognosis; D053120:Respiratory Aspiration / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013147:Spirometry
keywords: Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis; Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease; Asthma; Churg-Strauss; Cough-variant asthma; Foreign body aspiration; Hypersensitivity pneumonitis; Work-related asthma