Mayo Clinic proceedings
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Mayo Clinic proceedings · Aug 1994
Case ReportsSevere asthma complicated by bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis attributed to Parsonage-Turner syndrome.
Progressive dyspnea that developed in a 52-year-old woman with a lifelong history of asthma did not respond to high-dose orally administered glucocorticoids. Initially, a diagnosis of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis or hypersensitivity pneumonia was suggested as the cause of the worsening dyspnea. Pulmonary function tests demonstrated severe airway obstruction; substantial improvement was noted after bronchodilator therapy. ⋯ Parsonage-Turner syndrome was diagnosed. The dose of glucocorticoids was tapered. Follow-up of the patient by telephone contact in March 1994 (9 months after her initial examination at our clinic) revealed that the dyspnea was still severe.