Mortality in status asthmaticus: a nine-year experience in a Respiratory Intensive Care Unit

Failure to recognize the severity of an asthmatic attack and its consequent lack of aggressive management have been incriminated as contributing factors in mortality from asthma. We reviewed our experience with patients in status asthmaticus admitted to the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU) over a nine-year period to determine the course and mortality of patients managed in the RICU. Between May, 1968, and April, 1977, 86 patients in status asthmaticus were admitted, 11 with multiple admissions, for a total of 111 admissions. There were two fatalities recorded. Psychological dependence on therapeutic modalities probably contributed to these two deaths, and both may have been preventable. The low mortality rate probably reflects the more intensive management and monitoring that these severe asthmatics receive in an RICU setting.