Which finding in a patient with acute asthma indicates life-threatening disease according to the BTS/NICE/SIGN-based classification?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. A silent chest
- Step 1: Acute asthma is graded moderate, acute severe, life-threatening or near-fatal. Step 2. Life-threatening features include silent chest, cyanosis, poor respiratory effort, exhaustion, arrhythmia, hypotension and altered consciousness, or peak flow below 33 percent. Answer: A silent chest. Why not the others: Inability to speak a sentence, a rate of 25 or over and a peak flow of 33 to 50 percent are features of acute severe asthma, not of life-threatening asthma.
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