Article
A Perplexing Presentation of New Onset Wheezing
Fed Pract. 2011 May;28(5):25
Author and Disclosure Information
Esan O. Simon, MD, MBA; and Jesse Bracamonte, DO
CDR Simon is an active-duty family medicine physician and regional practice director at the Samuel J. Call Health Services Center at the U.S. Coast Guard Health, Safety and Work-Life Regional Practice in Cape May, New Jersey. Dr. Bracamonte is a family medicine physician at Desert Hills Family Medicine in Glendale, Arizona. At the time this article was submitted, CDR Simon was a resident and Dr. Bracamonte was an attending physician, both in the Department of Family Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Can you guess the underlying condition causing this patient's
episodic wheezing and difficulty breathing?
A 17-year-old girl presented to the emergency department (ED) reporting difficulty breathing and wheezing, which had begun the previous day. The patient had no history of asthma or other breathing difficulties. During the interview, the patient was having such significant difficulty breathing that she was unable to provide a history apart from head-nod responses to yes or no questions.