Transient marked atelectasis: an unusual complication of asthma in pregnancy

We present an unusual case in which a patient with asthma presented with acute respiratory distress of acute onset, secondary to marked atelectasis of the right middle and lower lobes, which resolved within 24 hr following administration of increased doses of intravenous steroids, inhalation therapy (beta-agonists and steroids), and pulmonary physiotherapy. This transient occurrence responding to basic therapeutic measures was considered consistent with the release of a mucous plug which had caused the above obstruction and associated symptomatology and radiographic findings. This case illustrates and supports the practice of chest imaging in patients with atypical presentations of asthma and stresses the importance of pulmonary physiotherapy and bronchodilatory therapy as primary therapeutic agents in cases of mucous plug-associated atelectasis.