A 57-Year-Old Man With Stridor and Critical Tracheal Narrowing

A 57-year-old man with a history of polysubstance use presented with shortness of breath, wheezing, productive cough, subjective fever, and chills of 3-day duration. Additionally, he reported worsening shortness of breath for the last 3 months. Of note, the patient was reported to have had, in the previous 6 months, two episodes of pneumonia that was treated with antibiotics and steroids. He was also diagnosed several years prior with adult-onset asthma due to intermittent wheezing and was prescribed an albuterol inhaler. The albuterol did not help relieve his wheezing, and he stopped refilling it.