CONTINUOUS NONINVASIVE MONITORING OF EVOLVING ACUTE SEVERE ASTHMA DURING SLEEP

A spontaneous acute severe asthmatic attack was monitored non-invasive ly in a 27 year old sleeping female asthmatic subject. As the attack e volved there was a switch from predominant abdominal breathing (associ ated with inspiratory indrawing of the rib cage) to gradually increasi ng rib cage excursion (associated with inspiratory paradox of the abdo minal wall with respect to the rib cage). Abdominal paradox increased progressively until it appeared to fil the whole of the inspiratory pe riod of the rib cage, at which point rapid oxygen desaturation develop ed.