Abstract

BENTO, Alexandra  and  ARROBAS, Ana Maria. Asthma and its differential diagnoses. Rev Port Pneumol [online]. 2009, vol.15, n.6, pp.1185-1191. ISSN 0873-2159.

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) occurs in immunocompetent patients and belongs to the Aspergillus⁵ induced hypersensitivity disorders. It is estimated that ABPA complicates approximately 7-14% of cases of chronic steroid-dependent asthma and the same amount of cases of cystic fibrosis. A diagnosis of ABPA is based on a combination of clinical, biological and radiology criteria⁵. There is a broad spectrum of disease severity. Early detection and aggressively management will impede progressive lung damage to a severe and debilitating disease requiring lung transplantation¹. The authors describe the case of a 41 year-old female with a history of allergic asthma from childhood¹. It was a severe, difficult to control asthma treated with systemic corticosteroids for long periods.

Keywords : Asthma; allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis; diagnostic guidelines.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )